IPL 2019, MI vs RR: The Worst captaincy move of the day
Both the teams came into this match in contrasting form. Mumbai Indians were on a high after winning three matches in a row to rise to the third position in the standings and on the other hand, Rajasthan Royals were in a lot of trouble after winning just one match out of six this season. All signs were pointing towards a comfortable win for MI in front of their home crowd.
Earlier, RR captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to field first. The hosts got off to a great start as Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock seemed to be in good knick. After losing their captain, MI lost a bit of momentum in the middle overs and this allowed RR bowlers to crawl back into the game.
De Kock was brilliant today and was unlucky to miss out on a well deserved century. After his dismissal, Hardik Pandya took the center stage and played a brilliant cameo to take MI score past 180. Eventually, MI posted a target of 188 for RR, which was a bit below par on this pitch.
The hosts needed early wickets to stop RR from achieving the target. Here, Rohit Sharma missed a trick by not opening the bowling with Jasprit Bumrah who had a brilliant record against Jos Buttler. The Indian pacer had dismissed Buttler on three of the four occasions the two have faced each other. Other bowlers were not up to the mark, which allowed Buttler time to settle.
After taking a bit of time, Buttler launched a merciless attack on the MI bowlers. He scored 89 runs off just 43 balls to take RR to the cusp of victory. While he missed out on a well deserved century, his innings ensured that visitors went home with two points. There was a bit of chaos when the visitors lost four wickets in quick time but eventually, they won the match in the last over.
RR won the match by four wickets with three balls to spare. This is RR's second win of the campaign which keeps them alive in the competition. On the other hand, MI is left with a lot to contemplate after this humiliating loss.