Mumbai Indians once again proved why they are the reigning champions after a thumping victory over Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021. Rohit Sharma and company registered another win which now puts them in a comfortable position and lays the foundation for a strong second half of the tournament.
Despite getting a good start, Rajasthan Royals couldn’t post a challenging total on the board. Eventually, Mumbai chased down 172 with ease, outclassing Rajasthan in all departments. Here are some takeaways from the one-sided affair at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.
Rajasthan Royals finally have a settled opening pair
One of the positives which the Royals can draw from yesterday’s game is that in Yashaswi Jaiswal they have found a player that can dominate bowlers in the power play. His fluent strokeplay can also take some pressure off Jos Buttler’s shoulder. Jaiswal has now played his second game in a row and has made sure that dropping Manan Vohra was the right thing to do. Having a settled opening pair will give Rajasthan’s batting unit an ideal platform to have a strong second half of IPL 2021.
Shivam Dube’s strike rate struggle continues
Even after spending a decent amount of time on the pitch, Shivam Dube is struggling to get going even on good pitches. Rajasthan was on track of scoring 200 plus, but Dube failed to get a move and score run at a good rate to propel his team to a big target. It is even harder to understand why David Miller and Riyan Parag had to come after Dube in the batting order. Rajasthan Royals need to give more time to their best batters to have a chance of winning more games.
Quinton De kock back in form
Before the game questions were being raised that whether De Kock should be dropped after four poor performances in Chennai. The South African batsman silenced his critics by scoring a flawless 70 to beautifully set up the chase. Mumbai Indians will be pleased that their premier batsman is back in form as they need to go on a long winning run to consolidate their place in the top four. QdK will have a big role to play for Mumbai in the second half of IPL 2021.
Rajasthan struggling to take wickets
Throughout the innings of Mumbai Indians, it never looked like Rajasthan can defend the total. This has been their problem ever since Jofra Archer was ruled out of the tournament. Chris Morris has been good for the past 2 games, but other than him no other bowler carries a wicket-taking threat. Rajasthan has a depleted bowling unit, but the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Jaydev Unadkat need to get back the knack of taking wickets.