De Kock guides Mumbai Indians to seven-wicket win
Kolkata: Quinton de Kock was among the runs as his unbeaten effort of 70 helped Mumbai Indians cruise to a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the first match for teams in New Delhi in the early game of the day.
Chasing a par taget of 172, the chaampions were off to a decent start but suffered two minor hiccups as Chris Morris accounted for captain Rohit Sharma (14) and Suryakumar Yadav (16). However, a 63-run partnership between De Kock and Krunal Pandya, sent at number four, ensured there would be no more twist in the tale.
De Kock, for whom this was the first half-century this season, enjoyed batting on this surface as he struck six boundaries and two sixes along the way.
Earlier, Royals put together a disciplined batting performance to set up a total of 171 - though they looked to have fallen short by about 15-20 runs short on this surface.
Relive the match as it happened ...
Half time report
Rajasthan Royals set 172-run target for Mumbai Indians
Kolkata: Rajasthan Royals put together a disciplined batting performance to set up a winning target of 172 at Mumbai Indians - though they look to have fallen short by about 15-20 runs short on this Delhi wicket in the early IPL game of the day.
Sent into bat, the Royals had one of their best starts at powerplay and Jos Buttler (41 off 32 balls) and young Yashasvi Jaiswal (32 off 20) stitched a 66-run stand for the first wicket. Skipper Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube then had a valuable mid-innings partnership before the former fell to a Trent Boult yorker after a fluent 42 off 27 balls.
Boult and Jasprit Bumrah were at their best in the last five overs again to stop the Royals from running away to a really big total.
Kolkata: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will seek redemption against Rajasthan Royals when the two lock horns at the early IPL game of the day at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
The legion of ‘Mumbai Paltan’ fans will be relieved at the fact that despite showing two wins from five matches so far, the five-time winners are in fourth position in the points table – where one win makes a lot of difference. What their decorated skipper Rohit Sharma will, of course, look for is their batsmen to come good on a refreshingly different wicket in New Delhi this time where batmen will find life easier.
Royals, who also have two wins out of five but are seventh in the table due to run-rate, have been hamstrung with injuries to two of their superstars: Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. They will have to make do with the available resources – as flying in an overseas players in these Corona-plagued times is impossible.
It’s high time the likes of Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia or Riyan Parag support their bowlers with a greater show of responsibility if the team has to progress in the tournament.
