After a record consecutive eight losses, Mumbai Indians (MI) finally registered their first win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. Suryakumar Yadav half-century followed by Tim David's cameo gifted skipper Rohit Sharma a win by five-wicket on his birthday against a side that is placed second on the points table.
Rohit fails again
The chase got off to a horrible start as birthday boy Rohit got out to Ravichandran Ashwin after scoring just two runs. However, Ishan Kishan took most of the strike in the first two overs and got crucial boundaries.
Kishan was joined by Suryakumar Yadav at no.3 in absence of Dewald Brevis. Kishan scored at a better rate but could not continue. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 26 runs from 18 deliveries before falling to Trent Boult in the last over of powerplay overs.
Stabilising partnership
The third wicket partnership for MI between Suryakumar and Tilak Varma stabilised the run chase. Suryakumar reached his half-century with a six off Ashwin in the 14th over. Just before the slog overs, MI were cruising towards the target but then Yuzvendra Chahal broke the partnership. Chahal got Suryakumar's wicket in the 15th over. The veteran batter scored 51 runs from 39 deliveries. He struck five fours and two sixes in the 51-run knock. The two shared an 81-run partnership for the third wicket.
In the next over, Prasidh Krishna got the wicket of Tilak to make the run chase tough for MI. The southpaw scored 35 runs from 30 deliveries.
David finishes it off
Hard-hitting David came to bat in the 16th over and joined Kieron Pollard in the middle. David took pressure off Pollard and hit a six off Chahal in the 17th over. In the next over, he hit Kuldeep Sen for two consecutive boundaries. There were no boundaries hit in the penultimate overs but three twos practically finished the game.
MI needed just four runs from the last over. Samson handed the ball to Sen and it seemed there will be another twist in the game with Pollard getting out first ball. However, Daniel Sams came to the crease and finished the match with a towering six to end the embarassing series of losses for the five-time champions.
Ordinary start
Royals did not get off to their usual fiery start in the powerplay overs. Devdutt Padikkal fell to spinner Hrithik Shokeen for run-a-ball 15 in the fifth over of the innings. In the powerplay overs, they managed to score 40 runs.
Quiet middle overs
Skipper Sanju Samson looked in good touch with two sixes off Shokeen but once again he threw his wicket away. On-debut left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya got his wicket in the eighth over. In the middle overs, Buttler struggled to score after a firm blow to his helmet by Riley Meredith. Once again, Mitchell struggled and could manage 17 off 20 deliveries.
Buttler’s 4 sixes
After Mitchell’s wicket, Buttler decided to take on bowlers. The in-form English wicketkeeper-batter hit four sixes in a row. Shokeen faced the brunt of a rampant Buttler. However, the youngster got his wicket off the last ball of 16th over as consolation. The Orange Cap holder scored 67 runs from 52 deliveries.
Struggling Hetmyer, Rampant Ashwin
In the slog overs, contrary to his natural game, Shimron Hetmyer struggled to score. Riyan Parag could not repeat the heroics of previous game and got out cheaply.
While Hetmyer struggled to even rotate the strike, Ashwin played the perfect cameo. Ashwin took on Meredith in the 18th over and Jasprit Bumrah in the penultimate over. He got out off the first ball of the last over. He scored 21 runs from nine deliveries.
In the last over, Meredith conceded just three runs to help MI restrict Royals for 158/6. Hetmyer played too many dot deliveries and remained unbeaten for six runs off 14 deliveries.
