IPL 2020, Match 20: Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals – MI claim 4th win of the season; climb to top of the points table
The Mumbai Indians (MI), having returned to comprehensive winning ways, toppled the Delhi Capitals to claim the top spot in the points table by defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 57 runs in the 20th match of the 2020 Indian Premier League.
Winning the toss and batting first, MI got off to an excellent start. They raced to 41 in 4 overs before Kartik Tyagi, on his IPL debut, broke through by taking the wicket of the dangerous Quinton de Kock. Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma then ensured that the run rate didn’t dip with regular boundaries and over-boundaries, capitalizing on the occasional loose deliveries.
That was until Shreyas Gopal, in his third over, got Rohit and Ishan Kishan out off successive deliveries and brought RR back in the game. The ploy to promote Krunal Pandya ahead of Kieron Pollard and Hardik to maximize on the bowling of leg-spinners Rahul Tewatia and Gopal did not pay off, with Krunal departing for a 17-ball 12. Suryakumar and Hardik then played out the rest of the middle-overs in ones and twos, and then went hammer and tongs in the last three overs.
Suryakumar, instead of applying brute force like his partner, opted for improvisation and utilization of the bowler’s pace during these three overs, finding and clearing the fence with lap-scoops and reverse-scoops. Mumbai Indians took 51 runs off the last 3 overs and set a target of 194 for the Rajasthan Royals.
Suryakumar Yadav drives one off his back foot on his way to an unbeaten innings of 79 off 47 deliveries
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In reply, the Royals encountered the worst possible start that they could have imagined, losing three of their top-order batsmen to dreadful shots within the 3rd over. The onus to bat till the end then fell on Jos Buttler, as he and Mahipal Lomror began to re-build the innings. The duo had batted RR through to the first time-out of the innings, after which Lomror, who had been playing with so much conviction until then, had a rush of blood and tried to smash Rahul Chahar’s leg-spin out of the ground. Unfortunately for him, the ball took the outside half of the bat and ballooned up, and substitute fielder Anukul Roy registered himself as a contender for catch of the season by running backwards and diving full-stretch to complete the dismissal.
Buttler tried his utmost best to keep the run-chase afloat after that, capitalizing on half-trackers from Krunal Pandya and Gopal by dispatching them over the ropes. Having reached his fifty, he looked set to bat deep and eventually finish the job, until he failed to dispatch a delivery right in the slot from James Pattinson in the 14th over, and Kieron Pollard, despite fumbling the first attempt, showed great presence of mind to latch onto the rebound. Pollard then removed Tom Curran, Buttler’s batting partner all this while, in the next over itself with a slower delivery, which Curran ended up hitting to the hands of Hardik Pandya at deep mid-wicket.
Bumrah, brought back into the attack, prevented any lower-order heroics from RR, by first cleaning up Rahul Tewatia with a pinpoint yorker and then nicking off Shreyas Gopal three balls later. Jofra Archer provided some entertainment briefly, but soon enough, the Mumbai Indians wrapped up the innings and registered their 4th win of the season.
MI v RR: Major talking points
Kartik Tyagi’s impressive start to his IPL career
19-year-old Kartik Tyagi celebrating his maiden IPL wicket, the one of Quinton de Kock
Hapur-born and Meerut-bred Kartik Tyagi has been termed as a promising prospect since his emergence in the 2020 U19 World Cup in South Africa. Tyagi comes across as a pacer who, in addition to bowling at good pace, can make the ball skid off the surface. The spell against Australia in the U19 World Cup semi-final this year unveiled his ability to swing the ball both ways in the air, as he registered figures of 4/24 and guided his country to the finals.
Ben Stokes tweeted that the Uttar Pradesh pacer’s run-up resembled Brett Lee’s and his action looked identical to Ishant Sharma’s. In addition to that, it looked like his arms while running in and his ability to pitch the ball at a length resembled another Australian speedster of the yesteryears, Jason Gillespie.
Tyagi, introduced in the 5th over, beat the opposition captain Rohit Sharma for pace in his second delivery, almost making him play on to his stumps. But he tried to go fuller next delivery and ended up bowling a high full-toss on leg-stump, which was dispatched over the ropes by Rohit. Tyagi gathered himself up and went back to his original length, for which he was rewarded two balls later. Quinton de Kock, who had got off to a bright start, was rushed into his shot by a short-pitched delivery at express pace from Tyagi, which resulted in a top edge, and Buttler’s gloves were safe enough to hand the 19-year old his first IPL wicket.
Tyagi finished with that wicket and 36 runs off his 4 overs eventually. Some credit needs to be given to RR skipper Steven Smith for handling him well – he let him operate for a couple of more overs after his first, and was taken out of the attack after a well-set Suryakumar Yadav hit him for three boundaries. Instead of reserving him till the death overs, Smith brought him back in the 15th over, with MI 4 wickets down and a new batsman being at the crease. Although Tyagi could not break through again, he went for only 8 bowling to Suryakumar and Hardik Pandya, which will give him immense confidence going further into the league.
Where the tide started to turn towards MI
The Rajasthan Royals had done an excellent job in restricting the Mumbai Indians to 142 in 17 overs, picking up a few crucial wickets in the process. Although they had the set Suryakumar and Hardik Pandya in the middle, the way they were not able to clear the fence and had to rely on finesse indicated that a sub-par total was on the cards. Tom Curran, who had only conceded 14 off his two overs, returned to bowl the 18th.
What followed next was delirious for the Mumbai Indians and devastating for the Rajasthan Royals. Curran, having conceded only 8 off his first 3 deliveries, went after a chance offered by Pandya, got into the perfect position to complete the catch, and ended up spilling it. With his confidence taking a hit, Suryakumar Yadav then rubbed salt into his wounds, dispatching a low full-toss over the backward square boundary first and then scooping the last ball of the over to the fine leg fence. MI had the big over they needed, they just had to carry the momentum through the end.
A vicious beamer from Jofra Archer first ball of the next over brought a boundary, and Suryakumar, having been struck on the head by a well-directed short ball from the England pacer, reverse lapped Archer for six next ball to help MI get 15 off the penultimate. The last over, bowled by Rajpoot, went for 17, and the Mumbai Indians, who were in danger of finishing under 170 at a point, had 193 on the board.
Top-order the main difference between the two teams
Considering the Rajasthan Royals’ batting line-up currently relies heavily on their top 3 or 4 batsmen, the wicket of one of them is equivalent to two for the team. The manner in which the wickets fell made it look even worse. Yashasvi Jaiswal, brought back in the side in place of Robin Uthappa, did not do justice to his recall, poking at an away going Trent Boult delivery pitched just outside off-stump to the keeper; and it felt like Steven Smith and Sanju Samson were still unaware of the change in conditions from Sharjah, as both of them fell to inexplicable, needless shots instead of trying to play themselves in and not accounting for the lack of depth in their batting.
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In complete contrast, one of the main reasons why MI got as much as they did was because Suryakumar Yadav played the role of an accumulator at the beginning, got well and truly set, and accelerated to perfection towards the end. Although Mumbai Indians have a power-packed middle-order, having someone from the top 3 bat deep into the innings has helped them immensely so far in this tournament. Rohit Sharma did it against the Kings XI Punjab, Quinton de Kock did it in their last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and it was Suryakumar Yadav’s turn today.
This goes to show why the Mumbai Indians have been so successful over the years; they have had at least one person from every department taking control of the situation at hand and bailing them out of trouble, with the team providing him adequate support in their own way.
Jasprit Bumrah regaining his rhythm with each game
Jasprit Bumrah registered figures of 4/20 off his 4 overs today
There were murmurs that Jasprit Bumrah, one of the best white-ball bowlers in the world, has not been the same – performance-wise – since the lockdown, as the pacer was deprived of much success towards the initial stages of the tournament. Having conceded at 10 runs an over in the two defeats to CSK and RCB, Bumrah came back with a bang in the game against Kings XI Punjab with figures of 2/18 in 4 overs, which contained the wicket of an in-form Mayank Agarwal. Although he went for 41 in MI’s following game against SRH, mainly due to an unexpected onslaught from young Abdul Samad, he did pick up the wickets of the youngster and Abhishek Sharma and help in closing out that game.
With 194 runs to defend today, Bumrah, with the new ball in hand, had a point to prove. It is safe to say that he did so, as he began by nicking out the prized scalp of Steven Smith, one of the supposed batting mainstays of the RR line-up in his first over. Other than a boundary off Buttler, he conceded nothing else in his following over and was replaced by James Pattinson.
He then returned in the 16th over and knocked over Rahul Tewatia and nicked off Shreyas Gopal, and finished with the wicket of Archer next over. Although he wasn’t tested at the death overs today, the fact that he performed well at the powerplay, a stage when he seldom comes on to bowl, and that he finished with 4 wickets and re-gained his control over his biggest weapon, the yorker, will be enough to give him the confidence to be back at his best with the best part of the tournament still to come.