Navi Mumbai: Jos Buttler’ (100, 68b, 11×4, 5×6) manic mayhem was matched in equal measure by spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal as Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by 23 runs in an IPL here Saturday. Jos Buttler scored his second IPL ton to help the Royals to 193 for eight wickets, which seemed slightly sub-par due to Jasprit Bumrah’s (3/17 in 4 overs) brilliant effort.
Ishan Kishan (54, 43b, 5×4, 1×6) and unheralded N Tilak Verma (61, 33b, 3×4, 5×6) added 81 in eight overs. However, then Ashwin (1/30) and Chahal (2/26) decisively tilted the game in RR’s favour between overs 14 to 16. MI finished on 170 for eight wickets after 20 overs.
RR have now won two out of two games. MI have lost both their games in another dismal start to an IPL season.
In the end, there were two factors that combined to bring about MI’s downfall. First, it was Buttler’s assault against MI’s weak-links like Basil Thampi and Murugan Ashwin that made the difference. There four overs (one by Thmapi and three by Murugan) yielded 58 runs. Even Bumrah’s brilliance didn’t seem to be enough in the final context of the match.
And then while bowling, in between overs 14 and 16, the Chahal-Ashwin combination gave away only 16 runs and the chase was derailed.
In the last four overs also, Trent Boult (1/29), Prasidh Krishna (1/37) and Navdeep Saini (2/36) kept things tight. They did not give Kieron Pollard (22, 24b, 1×4, 3×6) any room to free his arms. All of them knew Pollard’s weakness against fast wide Yorkers. They bowled them frequently to keep the West Indies white-ball skipper under tight leash.
If there was one plus point for MI, it will be young Tilak Verma. He could be the next big player for the franchise with his eye-catching elegance coupled with brute power. The reverse swept six off Ashwin was brilliant but Tilak played one slog sweep too many to get out off the next ball.
Buttler played shots all round the park to bring up his second IPL hundred and first of the current edition. It was all the more praiseworthy as Yashashvi Jaiswal (1) and Devdutt Padikkal (7) were dismissed cheaply.
Skipper Sanju Samson (30, 21b, 14b, 3×4, 3×6) played a good knock as he and Buttler conjured 82 runs for the third wicket. A late cameo by Shimron Hetymar (35, 14b, 3×4, 3×6) compounded MI’s woes.
Buttler, who was off the mark with a boundary to fine-leg and hit his first maximum, a pull shot over mid-wicket, off Daniel Sams (0/32), in the second over seemed on a rampage. He tore into Thampi’s over, the fourth of the innings and hammered the bowler for three maximums and two boundaries, as Rajasthan fetched 26 runs and raced to 43/1.
Buttler, who hit two successive boundaries off Sams, brought up his 50 in just 32. He took the Mumbai Indians attack to task. At 87/2, after 10 overs, the stage was set for a big score. Buttler was playing big shots at will and was ably supported by his captain. The duo was brutal on Murugan and hit him for 21-runs in the 11th over.
Samson was dismissed by Pollard in the 15th over. Then it was the Hetymar show, as he hit compatriot Pollard for two fours and as many sixes in the 17th over, where RR got 26 runs. Buttler paced his innings well and reached to the three-figure mark with a single. However Bumrah’s 19th over partially got MI back in the game.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 193 for 8 (Jos Buttler 100, Jasprit Bumrah 3/17) beat Mumbai Indians 170 for 8 (Tilak Verma 61, Ishan Kishan 54, Yuz vendra Chahal 2/26) by 23 runs.
