Rahane, bowlers take Rajasthan to emphatic victory over Mumbai Indians
Rajasthan Royals 179 (Rahane 68*, Yagnik 34) beat Mumbai Indians 92 (Karthik 30, Faulkner 3-16) by 87 runs
Ajinkae struck a gorgeous 64* and was backed by some superb bowling from his teammates, as the Rajasthan Royals won their third consecutive match at home in this season’s IPL against the Mumbai Indians. However, not many would have expected this kind of performance from the Rajasthan Royals, as they completely outclassed Mumbai in all departments of the game.
Rahul Dravid chose to bat first, and Watson and Rahane provided the start that was required, as they exploited the first six overs perfectly. Mitchell Johnson provided too much room for Watson at the start off the innings, which he cashed in on. His partner Rahane was quite happy to rotate the strike as Watson looked in sublime form. Rahane anchored the innings beautifully as he batted cleverly against the Mumbai Indians’ star bowlers.
The departure of Watson (31) in the seventh over did not affect the scoring rate, as young Yagnik played a brilliant innings of 34, studded with a superb six off Harbhajan over deep mid-wicket. He and Rahane took the attack to the Mumbai Indians spinners and kept the run-rate at over eight runs per over.
Yagnik was eventually dismissed in the 14th over of the innings by Harbhajan, leaving the Royals at 115/2. Stuart Binny soon followed Yagnik, as he was unfortunately run-out for 4. However, Brad Hodge played a little cameo, scoring 27 off 15 balls, including two massive sixes off Johnson in the 20th over, to take the Rajasthan Royals to 179.
The Mumbai Indians would have hoped for a better fielding performance, as they dropped two catches. Also, Johnson and Malinga would want to forget this day, as they were clobbered all over the park by Brad Hodge and Watson. Johnson was the most expensive among the bowlers, as his figures read 4-0-41-0.
Mumbai had stiff task on hand as they had to chase in excess of 9.00 runs per over. 180 runs always win games for the side bowling second unless an exceptional innings comes from the side batting second. Many would have hoped for another close-encounter, given the strong batting line-up that Mumbai possess.
With the departure of Tendulkar and Ponting in quick succession, Dinesh Karthik was required to put in a big performance. He didn’t get support from the other end as he kept losing his partners at regular intervals, and consequently had a significant task at hand. They also lost Rohit Sharma in the 7th over and Pollard in the 8th over, which shifted the burden on Dinesh Karthik. Dinesh Karthik didn’t resist too long as he was dismissed by James Faulkner for 30.
Mumbai Indians were nowhere in the game following Karthik’s dismissal, as they crumbled out for 92 runs – one of the worst batting performances in IPL history from the Mumbai Indians. Dinesh Karthik top scored with 30 runs, while the second top-scorer was Rayudu with 27 runs, as the rest of the batsman failed to reach the double-figure mark.
Rajasthan Royals play their next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 20, while the Mumbai Indians play their next game against Delhi Daredevils on April 21.