A manic 11-ball 33 from K Gowtham helped Rajasthan break their losing streak in a thriller against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday. It was also the fourth last-over defeat for Rohit Sharma’s squad and that is not good news.
Mumbai seemed to be well in command when Rajasthan lost three wickets in 6 balls with the total on 125. They went from 125-3 to 125-6, losing even the well-set Sanju Samson (52 off 39).
But that’s when Gowtham decided to change things in a hurry. His knock seemed to come out of nowhere but it also shows just how unpredictable a format Twenty20 can be.
Rohit Sharma’s decision to give the last over to Hardik Pandya will also be questioned especially given that he has Mitch McCleanghan in his line-up.
After the game, Rohit Sharma refused to blame his bowled, “It is not easy which is probably why I haven’t been critical of the bowling unit. 20 runs more would have made the difference. We let ourselves down with the bat.”
Mumbai innings
Suryakumar Yadav and young Ishan Kishan hit measured half-centuries but Mumbai Indians frittered away a good platform to settle for a modest 167 for seven against Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match, here today.
Mumbai Indians lost Evin Lewis in the first over the match after electing to bat but Yadav (72) and Kishan (58) raised a 129-run partnership, setting up the platform for a challenging total.
The partnership broke when Kishan, who led India in the Under-19 World Cup, lost his wicket while trying an adventurous shot off Dhawan Kulkarni (2/32) and from there the visitors lost track.
The left-hander’s innings came off 42 balls with four fours and three shots over the fence while Yadav faced 47 balls and hit nine boundaries including three sixes.
The stage was set for a perfect finish but Mumbai Indians lost three wickets in space of eight balls. After Kishan went back to dug out, Yadav was dismissed by Unadkat and captain Rohit Sharma ran himself out after misjudging a run.
Caribbean paceman Jofra Archer (3/22) was impressive on his IPL debut, troubling the batsmen with good pace. He got rid of Pandya brothers – Krunal (7) and Hardik (4) – and Mitchell McClenaghan (0) in the penultimate over, denying the visitors a flourishing finish. The 23-year-old conceded just 23 runs in his four-over quota.
Kieron Pollard could not manage unbeaten 21 off 20 balls as Mumbai Indians scored only 32 runs in the last five overs and lost five wickets.
The Royals bowlers were initially successful in keeping the Mumbai batsmen silent, not allowing them to open their arms. Kishan hit Kulkarni for a monstrous six before Yadav sent one soaring off his legs in the fifth over.
Kulkarni was meted out this treatment after he had sent Caribbean batsman Lewis (0) in the fourth ball of the innings. Still, the visitors did not have much runs on the board after Powerplay over with scorecard reading 43 for one.
Yadav and Kishan kept finding odd boundaries to maintain a healthy run-rate and more importantly they had wickets in hand to go for a kill towards the end. The duo found runs on all sides of the ground and the steady partnership meant that run-rate improved gradually.
However, once the partnership ended, Mumbai Indians’ innings fell apart.
(With inputs from PTI)
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