After eight successive defeats, Mumbai Indians finally opened their account with a five-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals in Match 44 of the Indian Premier League 2022. They chased down 159 with four balls remaining.
Mumbai found themselves in familiar trouble after losing a couple of early wickets, but Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma batted for almost 10 overs to lay a solid foundation for the victory.
Rajasthan Royals 158/6 in 20 overs
Earlier, though Jos Buttler (67) occupied the crease for majority of the innings, Rajasthan's innings never gathered pace. Buttler's own struggles sum up how the day panned out for Rajasthan's batter. Devdutt Padikkal, his opening partner, again failed to impress, scoring run-a-ball 15 before falling to Hrithik Shokeen. Rajasthan may replace him with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
After a lackadaisical start, Sanju Samson tried to compensate with attack. He hit two towering sixes within the first six balls he faced, but the innings went into doldrums once he fell.
Buttler lifted the run rate with four consecutive sixes against Shokeen in the 16th over. R. Ashwin, too, struck three fours and a six in his 9-ball 21 to take Rajasthan to 158/6.
Mumbai Indians 161/5 in 19.2 overs
R. Ashwin had Rohit Sharma early, caught by Mitchell in the third over. Ishan Kishan came out with a vengeance, hitting four fours and a six in his 18-ball stay before Trent Boult got him. The pressure fell on Mumbai's middle order, but Suryakumar and Verma then took 20 off Daryl Mitchell's over to put Rajasthan under the pump. They added 81 to lift to 122/3 in 15 overs before falling in quick succession.
However, Tim David and Kieron Pollard kept the asking rate under control. Then, with four needed off the last over, Mitchell took a stunning catch at fine leg off Kuldeep Sen to send Pollard back. Daniel Sams then struck a six to finish the game.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 158/6 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 67; Riley Meredith 2-24) lost to Mumbai Indians 161/5 in 19.2 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 51; R. Ashwin 1-21) by 5 wickets with 4 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Suryakumar Yadav