The 38th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, saw Rajasthan Royals (RR) dominate Mumbai Indians (MI) by a convincing nine-wicket.
Hardik Pandya, celebrating his 100th IPL game for MI, elected to bat first after winning the toss. However, their innings got off to a disastrous start. Trent Boult continued his dominance over Rohit Sharma, dismissing him for the sixth time in T20 cricket, this time on just the fifth ball of the innings. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav followed suit in quick succession, dismissed by Sandeep Sharma. Mumbai were left reeling at a precarious 20/3.
Mohammad Nabi attempted a counter-attack for the visitors, scoring a brisk 23 off just 17 balls, but fell prey to Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal’s dismissal of Nabi marked a significant milestone – his 200th IPL wicket, making him the first bowler to achieve this feat.
Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera then steadied the innings with a crucial 99-run partnership off 52 balls. Wadhera departed at 49, becoming Boult’s 250th T20 wicket, but Varma continued his rampage, scoring his IPL fifty and reaching the coveted 1000-run mark in the league, becoming the third youngest player to do so.
However, with the dismissal of Wadhera, Rajasthan clawed their way back into the match. Tight bowling lengths and regular wickets restricted the flow of runs for Mumbai, forcing them to play big shots under pressure. This resulted in a flurry of wickets, and MI finished their innings at 179/9.
Sharma was the star with the ball, picking up a career-best five wickets for just 18 runs. Boult chipped in with two wickets, while Avesh Khan and Chahal took one wicket each.
Yashasvi Jaiswal stole the show in the chase for RR. The young opener stitched together a solid 74-run partnership with Jos Buttler (35) to give his team a flying start. He then continued his dominance by adding a match-winning 100-run stand with skipper Sanju Samson (38*).
The southpaw notched up his second IPL century, becoming the first player ever to score two centuries in the league before turning 23. The Royals chased down the target comfortably with nine wickets and eight balls to spare.
Sandeep Sharma’s exceptional bowling performance (5/18) earned him the well-deserved Man of the Match award.
This victory further strengthens Rajasthan Royals’ position at the top of the table with seven wins in eight matches. Conversely, Mumbai Indians remain in seventh place with just three wins from eight matches.
Scorecard:
Mumbai Indians: 179/9, Overs 20, Tilak Varma 65, Sandeep Sharma 5/18
Rajasthan Royals: 183/1, Overs 18.4, Yashasvi Jaiswal 104*, Piyush Chawla 1/33