Mumbai: Englishman Jos Buttler (89, 43b, 8×4, 7×6) laid the platform with a rampaging half century while Shreyas Gopal (13 n o) held his nerve at the death to power Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a four-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in an IPL encounter here Saturday.
This was RR’s second victory of the season in seven games. Put into bat, MI rode on an aggressive knock by South African Quinton De Kock (81, 52b, 6×4, 4×6) to post an imposing 187/5, but Buttler stole the show before they survived a scare to finish the game in 19.3 overs.
The match was a forgettable one for young West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph (0/53), who was hammered for eight fours and three sixes and then was injured trying to save a boundary. The turning point of the match came in the 13th over as Buttler smashed two sixes and four fours off Joseph to bring down the equation to a manageable run-a-ball.
Buttler first conjured a 60-run opening stand with skipper Ajinkya Rahane (37, 21b, 6×4, 1×6) to lay the foundation and then added 87 runs for the second wicket with Sanju Samson (31, 26b, 2×4, 1×6).
Buttler initially played second fiddle to Rahane but then upped his ante once skipper was gone. The Englishman in the eighth over, hit Rahul Chahar (1/34) for a six, and then in next over, smashed two sixes off Krunal Pandya (3/34) as he raced to 50 off 29 balls.
However, the twist came once Buttler departed in the 14th over with RR needed 41 runs. Krunal and Bumrah did make a comeback for MI sending four batsmen – Samson, Rahul Tripathi (one), Steve Smith (12) and Liam Livingstone (one) – back to the pavilion as the visitors slumped to 174/6 from 147/2.
However, Gopal and K Gowtham (0 n o) held their nerves to take the side home in a tense situation. Gopal hit the winning boundary off Hardik Pandya (0/11) as celebrations erupted in the Rajasthan camp.
Earlier, De Kock was the wrecker-in-chief as he hammered the visiting bowlers all round the park and got able support from skipper Rohit Sharma (47, 32b), who made a comeback after missing out the last game due to a leg injury.
A late cameo from Hardik (28 n o, 11b), in which smashed three sixes and one fours ensured Mumbai neared the 190-run mark.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 187/5 (Quinton de Kock 81, Rohit Sharma 47; Jofra Archer 3/39) lost to Rajasthan Royals 188/6 (Jos Buttler 89, Ajinkya Rahane 37; Krunal Pandya 3/34, Jasprit Bumrah 2/23) by four wickets.
