The change in venue brought a change in fortunes for the defending champions as they eased past the Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in the 24th match of Vivo IPL 2021 to return to winning ways. It was a clinical all-round performance from the five-time champions to complete a relatively straightforward run-chase in the end.
A target of 172 was never going to be enough on a good surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. A quickfire opening partnership of 49 runs between Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock set MI up for the run-chase perfectly. De Kock finally found his Midas touch and looked in complete command of proceedings. He found the gaps consistently in the powerplay getting his team off to a flying start.
The Millionaire Man Chris Morris ended the partnership with the wicket of Rohit Sharma. Suryakumar Yadav started off the innings with his trademark lofted extra cover drive while Quinton de Kock manoeuvred the strike and found the boundaries just when his team needed. SKY had to depart soon after but the move to send Krunal Pandya up the order worked wonders for MI as the southpaw crafted a brilliant 63 runs partnership with Quinton de Kock.
After a blazing knock, he was dismissed by a good delivery from Mustafizur Rahman but by then MI was close to the victory target. Kieron Pollard came in ahead of Hardik Pandya and slammed his way to a quickfire 16 of 8 deliveries which included a couple of fours and a six. Eventually, MI chased the target down with 9 deliveries to spare.
Earlier in the day, it was the MI skipper Rohit Sharma who won the toss and opted to field which was a sensible option given what transpired yesterday. Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave a brisk start to the Royals sharing a 66 runs partnership in less than 6 overs. The youngster Jaiswal looked in brilliant touch and played some delightful shots to get going. Jos Buttler on the other hand struggled a bit to start off but once he was in, he took on the MI bowlers. He belted Jayant Yadav for two sixes after being dropped in the same over.
It was Mumbai’s go-to man in the season, Rahul Chahar who broke the partnership with a brilliant delivery to deceive Buttler. The leggie also bagged the wicket of Jaiswal to break the shackles. Sanju Samson looked in good touch during a 27 balls 42 which included 5 fours.
His partnership with Shivam Dube steadied the ship but the hard-hitting left-hander never found his mojo today. He did hit a few sixes but his knock of 35 came in 31 deliveries which made the difference to the end score. Eventually, they put up a competitive score of 171 in their allotted 20 overs.
HITS
Jasprit Bumrah
He has done it so many times for his country and his franchise and today was no different. He might have bagged just a solitary wicket but the way he controlled the innings with his four overs conceding just 15 runs set the match up for Mumbai Indians and played an important role in the win.
Rohit Sharma generally tends to keep Bumrah for the middle and the death overs after giving him his first over. However today he bowled two overs on a trot today and it was some lethal bowling by the speedster. He bowled in the right channels all through the first two overs and never really allowed Buttler and Jaiswal to get away. The pressure of the first two overs made Buttler and Jaiswal take the chances against the other bowlers.
The middle overs were played well by Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube but they couldn’t get the flurry of runs in the death overs courtesy Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. Bumrah came back in the 17th over and just conceded 5 runs. It was classical death overs bowling which Bumrah is renowned for nailing his yorkers at will.
He finally got a reward for his persistence bagging the wicket of Shivam Dube in the penultimate delivery of his spell. It was a low full toss which Dube failed to time down the ground and ended up giving a straightforward catch back to the bowler. He conceded just 3 runs in the final over finishing with exceptional figures of 1/15 in his four overs.
Rahul Chahar
This bloke has been a sensation for the Mumbai Indians this season. Whenever the captain has handed him the ball, Chahar has given him the wickets. Yet again the leggie had a sensational day and broke the backbone of Rajasthan Royals with crucial wickets of Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal just when the duo was going great guns.
He was introduced into the attack in the 8th over and he almost responded immediately bagging the wicket of Jos Buttler. After bowling a half-tracker which was deposited out of the ground for a six, Chahar responded with a beautiful leg break which had dip and turn. He came dancing down the track and missed the line completely only to get stumped by QDK.
As often expected from legging, Chahar bowled a few poor deliveries but that is part and parcel of the game but he got the wickets just when his team needed. Chahar returned in his next over with the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal. The left-hander was unable to read the googly and ended up giving a straightforward catch back to the bowler as he tried to work this down the on side. Eventually, Chahar finished with figures of 2/33 in his quota of 4 overs.
Quinton de Kock
Coming into the match, the swashbuckling left-hander was woefully out of touch returning with three single-digit scores in four matches. However, the persistence of MI with the flamboyant Protea opener paid dividends today as the southpaw returned to his fluent best taking to his side over the finishing line.
Chasing a target of 172, the wicket-keeper batsman came out to open the innings with his skipper Rohit Sharma. The skipper took his time while De Kock went along his merry way, finding the boundaries on a consistent basis. His wide array of shots was out of his cabinet as he pulled, ramped and nudged his way to an unbeaten 70 of 50 deliveries which included 6 fours and a couple of sixes.
A partnership of 49 runs with Rohit Sharma laid the foundation for the run-chase. After the skipper’s dismissal, it was QDK and Suryakumar Yadav who shared a brief stand before the dismissal of SKY. De Kock was never bogged now and played some delightful shots in the process. A brilliant partnership with Krunal Pandya got them within touching distance and in the end, it was Kieron Pollard who sealed the deal with some mighty blows.
FLOPS
Shivam Dube
There was no other option but to include Dube in this list as it was his relatively low-risk approach that didn’t allow the Royals to post a big total on the board. The southpaw came into the middle at the fall of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s wicket. Jaiswal and Buttler had got them off to a great start and Dube and Samson needed to find the boundaries especially in the middle overs to keep the run rate well over 8.
Dube did smash a couple of fours and sixes but his 31 balls 35 halted the momentum for the Rajasthan Royals. He tried to heave everything out of the ground but was left bamboozled in front of the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.
Dube had to depart in Bumrah’s penultimate delivery as he failed to time a quick full toss and ended up giving a straightforward catch back to the bowler. He was given a solitary over by Samson where he conceded just 6 runs but all in all, his dodgy innings did break their momentum.
Mustafizur Rahman
The Bangladesh cutter specialist Mustafizur Rahman had a rare off day given the fact he has been quite brilliant in the tournament so far. Quinton de Kock looked in complete command against the left-arm pacer and Mustafizur failed to hit his lengths and ended up conceding boundaries on a consistent basis.
He was brought into the attack in the 4th over and he was greeted with a four and a six. Quinton de Kock started off with a deft touch to find the boundary and then helped one along the deep square leg region for a maximum. It was exceptional batting from the southpaw as Mustafizur ended up conceding 13 from his opening over.
He was brought back in the 8th over where he conceded just 8 runs but failed to nail his lengths. The cutters came out nicely but the MI batsmen were picking him. He was greeted with a six in his third over but came back nicely bagging the wicket of Krunal Pandya and just conceding 7 runs. It was Kieron Pollard who sealed the deal in his final over collecting two boundaries in the first three deliveries. A spell of 1/37 in 3.3 overs was not what Mustafizur and the Royals would have hoped for.