IPL 2018: Rajasthan Royals Defeat the Mumbai Indians

Match 47 of the 2018 Indian Premier League was a contest between the Rajasthan Royals and the Mumbai Indians. RR won the toss and elected to bowl, and MI took to the crease. Openers Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis got things off to a good start for the hosts. Eventually, Yadav was the first to succumb, having scored 38 runs. Skipper Rohit Sharma took his place, but departed just as quickly, for a duck. The next batsman, Ishan Kishan lasted for 12 runs before he was sent back to the dugout. Things were looking bleak today for Mumbai in IPL 2018.

Hardik Pandya put up a decent partnership until it was broken when Lewis departed after scoring 60. Pandya himself was dismissed for 36 runs while brother Krunal only managed 3 runs. Ben Cutting and JP Duminy were the only MI players left at the crease, with the former scoring 10. At the end of 20 overs, Mumbai notched up 168 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

When the Rajasthan Royals took their turn at the willow, they chased down the target alright! Opener D’Arcy Short stumbled early, with only 4 runs on the board, marking a bad start to today’s IPL 2018 match. But Jos Buttler took off like a man possessed. Meanwhile, Skipper Ajinkya Rahane came on the the crease and contributed a hefty 37 runs before being dismissed.

Buttler was then joined by Sanju Samson who added another 26 runs to the Rajasthan tally. Samson also joined Short and Rahane in the dugout and was replaced by Ben Stokes. Sadly, Stokes didn’t get a chance to have a crack at the Mumbai bowlers as Buttler got the job done.

In the bowling department, the Rajasthan bowlers did their best to restrict the Mumbai batsmen. Krishnappa Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal were the only ones without a wicket to their name. They were also fairly expensive bowlers with economies of 11.50 for Gowtham and 10.50 for Gopal. Joffra Archer was the most economical bowler with 16 runs conceded from 4 overs, including 2 wickets.

For Mumbai, it was a completely different story. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Mayank Markhande were severely punished by the RR batsmen. Although Hardik came away with 2 wickets, he still had an economy of 13.00. By contrast, brother Krunal’s economy was nearly half of that with 6.00.