Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals have many things to learn from Tuesday as the latter suffers crushing defeat.
As the Indian Premier League is progressing, Mumbai Indians (MI) are doing justice opinions of fans and pundits that consider them as favourites for lifting the trophy this season. The Mumbai based franchise delivered another convincing performance on October 6 at Abu Dhabi against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
MI decided to bat after winning the toss against RR. After getting a decent start, MI once again managed to score big runs in the death overs to set a target of 194. RR never got going in the run chase and eventually succumbed to 57 run defeat.
RR was thoroughly outplayed in all departments of the game on Wednesday. Let us have a look at some of the important takeaways for both teams from this encounter.
Surya Kumar Yadav steps up for Mumbai Indians
The crucial aspect of MI’s batting unit has been that every batsman can anchor the innings, holding the fort at one end, while other players contribute around him. After Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, and Ishan Kishan were dismissed early in the innings, Surya Kumar Yadav stepped up for MI.
The Mumbai batsman kept things ticking through quick running between the wickets. He increased the tempo of the innings in the death overs. Yadav formed a strong partnership with Hardik Pandya to set up a stiff target for RR. His mature innings for MI against RR bodes well for the rest of the tournament.
Rajasthan Royals need consistency from Steven Smith and Sanju Samson
After the exploits from Steven Smith and Sanju Samson at the start of innings, the duo has gone quiet in the last three games. They have struggled to score runs in the middle, showing lack of patience when things are not going their way.
Both players form the core of the batting unit at RR, so the team will be hoping that they find consistency in their performances during the rest of the tournament. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler’s return to form against MI will be a big positive for RR. The Englishman scored a quickfire 70 runs when all other batsmen found it difficult to score against MI’s bowlers. RR will be hoping that the batting trio will get back to form as a unit and propel them to playoffs.
Jasprit Bumrah is getting back to his best
It has been a tough year for Jasprit Bumrah as he has found it difficult to regain form after an injury layoff. He struggled for India during the New Zealand tour.
In the first two games of the IPL, Bumrah was struggling to find the rhythm as batsmen were easily scoring runs in his spell.
After a lean spell, Bumrah has stormed back to form in the last three games. One cannot keep a good bowler down for long. Bumrah was exceptional against RR as he grabbed four wickets and gave just 20 runs in four overs. He is now second in the race for the purple cap with 11 wickets. Bumrah’s return to form is bad news for other teams as MI currently has the most in-form pace trio.
By Kiran Thakare