Rajasthan Royals reach 171/4 vs Mumbai Indians, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler shine

For the first 10 overs of the Rajasthan Royals innings, it felt like they were living on the edge. Jos Buttler struggled, then regained his timing and took the attack to the Mumbai Indians bowlers. Yashasvi Jaiswal was also giving him company. At 91/2, on a pitch at the Arun Jaitley stadium that was becoming sluggish in the day, it looked like Rajasthan Royals would post a total in excess of 180. But, some superb quality bowling in the middle overs and in the death, especially by Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah dented Rajasthan Royals. The final score of 171/4 would be a middling total considering the nature of the wicket.

The onslaught by Buttler and Rajasthan Royals skipper Saju Samson had given them a good platform but the discipline of the Mumbai Indians bowlers shone through. As the innings progressed, Rajasthan Royals found it difficult to find the gaps and middle the ball. Shivam Dube managed to get some big hits but his strike-rate of 112 nullified his gains.

Buttler struggles but shines later

Mumbai Indians chose to bowl considering that the wicket would be better as the game progressed. At the start, Buttler and Jaiswal struggled for timing. In the space of four balls, Buttler had three chances. He survived a catch and a missed run-out in two consecutive balls of the fourth over bowled by Bumrah. In the first ball of Jayant Yadav’s over, Buttler slogged across the line but the leading edge evaded Chahar at backward point who could not latch on.

In that same over, Buttler got a bit of his timing back as he creamed a four and a six off Yadav. Jaiswal joined in the fun by hammering Nathan Coulter-Nile for a four through extra cover and a six over deep midwicket. Buttler rattled Yadav with another six as Mumbai Indians were guilty of bowling too short. Chahar was greeted for another six by the England player but on 41, Buttler missed the slog and was stumped.

Mumbai Indians and rajasthan royals fight

The Mumbai Indians bowlers continued to bowl short and Samson got going with two fours off Krunal Pandya. Jaiswal launched Chahar’s googly for another six but the bowler had his revenge a couple of balls later.

Mumbai Indians seemed to have kept the middle overs slightly quiet despite Dube and Samson hitting a few boundaries. Rajasthan Royals looked to go for the big total. In the 16^th over bowled by Trent Boult, Samson thumped him for two fours. However, Bumrah was simply too good on the day and Rajasthan Royals could not go after him. Bumrah got the wicket of Dube who was struggling a bit for 35.

In the final over, there was chaos as Rohit Sharma dropped Riyan Parag on 5. Coulter-Nile bowled a no-ball and on the free-hit, Parag was bowled. Rajasthan Royals reached 171/4, but Samson would be wondering whether the move to promote Dube ahead of Miller was wise.