IPL 2024, RR vs MI, Key Takeaways: Sandeep Sharma's 5-18 and Yashasvi Jaiswal's 104 hand Rajasthan Royals an easy win over Mumbai Indians. Top takeaways for MI and RR from the match.
Brief Scores: MI 179/9 (Tilak Varma 65, Nehal Wadhera 49, Sandeep Sharma 5/18) lost to RR 183-1 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 104* Sanju Samson 38*, Piyush Chawla 1/33) by 9 wickets.
Player of the Match- Sandeep Sharma (5/18)
Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) faced off against each other in the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur after coming off a hard-earned victory against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), respectively. In their previous duel, the Royals got the better of Mumbai Indians, winning the match by 6 wickets. This time also RR managed to tame MI by 9 wickets with their ominous display in all three departments of the game.
The RR pacers, Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma, utilised the early swing of the pitch in the powerplay to pack up the innings of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. In the death overs, RR again clawed their way back to restrict MI on a score of 179/9. Rajasthan Royals didn’t have to break much sweat as they cruised along the chase of 180 runs and won the contest with 9 wickets in hand and 8 balls remaining.
Key Takeaways from MI vs RR, Match 38, IPL 2024 – Winning team (RR)
Sandeep Sharma’s fifer and death bowling aids RR
The top batting order of Mumbai was completely undone by the swing of Rajasthan pacers Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma. Sandeep Sharma came back into this match against MI after missing 5 games, convalescing from a side strain. Sandeep ravaged MI’s top order with his swing in the powerplay as he claimed the wickets of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav giving away only 4 runs in the two overs he bowled early on.
Courtesy of an immaculate death overs bowling performance by Rajasthan, MI’s innings was cut short by 25-30 runs. Boult provided the much-required breakthrough as he broke the 99-run stand between Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera, sending the latter back to the pavilion. Avesh Khan dismissed MI skipper Hardik Pandya in the 19th over to dent their progression.
The stage was well set for Sandeep Sharma who bowled in the 20th over. He claimed the wickets of Tilak Varma, Gerald Coetzee and Tim David giving away only 3 runs. The lower middle order of Mumbai couldn’t contribute much as Rajasthan bowlers conceded only 28 runs in final 4 overs claiming 5 wickets. Sandeep returned with figures of 4-0-18-5 in his comeback match against MI.
Read More: IPL 2024: Buttler's 2 hundreds have come batting second; What makes him a gritty customer in chases?
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s ominous return among the runs
Yashasvi Jaiswal wasn’t amongst the runs for the Royals in the first seven matches. Though RR has only lost one game so far, Yashasvi’s poor returns with the bat was a worrisome factor. He could amass only 121 runs in 7 games at an underwhelming average of 17.29.
Jaiswal came back to form and scored a century against Mumbai to take Rajasthan home. He played an unbeaten knock of 104 runs off 60 balls and hit the winning boundary to secure the win for Rajasthan. His innings was laced with 9 fours and 7 sixes at an impressive S/R of 173.33.
The youngster returning back to form just at the brink of the second half of the season will further consolidate the batting of Rajasthan and fill the camp with confidence. His form will provide further impetus to the already dangerous looking Royals.
Key Takeaways from MI vs RR, Match 38, IPL 2024 – Losing team (MI)
Nehal’s addition is a huge boost for MI’s middle order
Nehal Wadhera was warming the bench until he got an opportunity to showcase his batting talent in the eight game for Mumbai. He had a promising 2023 season where he batted in the lower middle order and scored 241 runs in 14 innings at a healthy strike rate of 145.18. Wadhera scored a quickfire 49 runs off 24 balls striking at 204.17 S/R and crocheted a 99 run stand with Tilak Varma to put Mumbai back on track against Rajasthan after a horrendous powerplay.
Mumbai Indians’ middle order consists mainly of right-hand batters like Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tim David, Romario Shepherd and Mohammad Nabi. Tilak Varma was the only left handed batter who featured regularly in the middle order for Mumbai.
With Nehal’s induction into Mumbai who is another left-handed batter, it gives the team much more flexibility to go for left hand-right hand combination in the middle overs. Also playing Nehal in the mix gives MI the leverage to utilise a foreign player as an impact substitute, MI can either play Romario Shepherd if his hard hitting is required at the fag end or Nuwan Thushara to strengthen their bowling further.
Read More: IPL 2024, PBKS vs MI, Key Takeaways: Ashutosh causes mayhem, but MI persist to clinch victory
Statistical Highlights from MI vs RR game, IPL 2024
Trent Boult now has the highest number of wickets in the powerplay overs with 26 wickets to his name surpassing Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s tally of 25 wickets.
Sandeep Sharma has dismissed Surya Kumar Yadav four times in 8 innings, the most by any bowler till date.
Yuzvendra Chahal became the first bowler in IPL to achieve the milestone of 200 wickets as he claimed the wicket of Mohammad Nabi.
Tilak Varma became the third youngest player to breach the mark of 1000 runs in IPL.
Points Table Scenario & What’s Next
With this win upfront, the table toppers Rajasthan Royals consolidate their position further in the race to playoffs with 14 points from 8 games. Mumbai are at seventh position with 6 points from 8 games. Mumbai will next play Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 27 in Delhi whereas Rajasthan will face Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 27 in Lucknow.
Up next, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and LSG will lock horns at the MA Chidambaram stadium tomorrow. CSK will look to avenge their loss against LSG in their reverse fixture.
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