Mumbai, April 30
A disciplined bowling performance helped Mumbai Indians restrict Rajasthan Royals to 158/6 despite a hard-fought fifty from Jos Buttler (67 off 52) in match No 44 of IPL 2022 at the Dr DY Patil Stadium, here on Saturday.
Apart from Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin (21 off 9) was the main contributor with the bat for Rajasthan. The likes of Devdutt Padikkal (15), Sanju Samson (16) and Daryl Mitchell (17) got good starts but failed to convert them to big innings.
Put into bat first, openers Dedvdutt Padikkal and Jos Buttler gave Rajasthan a slow start despite getting lifelines by Mumbai fielders. It was Daniel Sams, who dropped Buttler in the 2nd over of the innings bowled by Jasprit Bumrah and then Tim David dropped a simple catch of Padikkal in the very next over.�
Young spinner Hirthik Shokeen finally dismissed Padikkal (15) in the 5th over to provide the first breakthrough for Mumbai Indians. Skipper Sanju Samson, who came to bat next, scored a quickfire 16 in just 7 balls with two sixes but he once again failed to carry his innings longer and got out to debutant Kumar Kartikeya, leaving Rajasthan at 54-2 after 7.2 overs.
Despite losing his batting partners at the other end, Buttler tried to up the ante but he wasn't able to do it due to disciplined bowling by Mumbai and slowness of the pitch. The constant pressure from the MI bowlers dried the boundaries during the middle phase and eventually brought the wicket of Daryl Mitchell in the very first ball of the 15th over bowled by Sams. �
Soon, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma took a punt and handed the spinner Shoukeen the 16th over. Buttler smashed the youngster for four back to back sixes, missed the fifth ball and eventually fell on the last delivery while trying to hit another six.
Ashwin came in and played a fine cameo which provided the boost to RR's innings before getting out. However, Daniel Sams bowled an incredible final over to Shimron Hetmyer, conceding just 3 runs and restricted Rajasthan to 158/6 in 20 overs.
Riley Meredith (2/24), Hrithik Shokeen (2/47), Daniel Sams (1/32), Kumar Kartikeya (1/19) were the wicket-takers for Mumbai.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 158/6 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 67, Ravichandran Ashwin 21; Riley Meredith 2/24) vs Mumbai Indians
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