MUMBAI Indians (MI) completed a hat-trick of wins in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 as they beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 57 runs to clinch the top spot from Delhi Capitals.

Chasing a challenging 194 for victory, MI bowled RR out for 136 in 18.1 overs at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket stadium yesterday. Jasprit Bumrah picked up 4 wickets while Trent Boult and James Pattinson got 2 each. Rahul Chahar and Kieron Pollard also contributed with a wicket each.

Bumrah’s figures of 4 for 20 from his 4 overs are the best by any bowler this season and also his personal best in the IPL, bettering the 3 for 7 he recorded against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017.

Jos Buttler waged a lone battle for RR after they lost wickets in a heap in the first 10 overs, and had even managed to put the team back on track in the run chase but his dismissal for 70 in the 14th over proved to be the final nail in their coffin.

Jofra Archer entertained in the final stage of the game with 24 off 11 balls but the equation went too far out of hand for the Royals to make a comeback as yet another poor batting performance led to their downfall.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians posted 193 for 4 after opting to bat first with Suryakumar Yadav top-scoring for them with unbeaten 79 off 47 balls with 11 boundaries and 2 sixes.

Surya got good support from Rohit Sharma (35), Hardik (30 not out) and Krunal Pandya as they managed to post a total which was about 20 runs more than the par score on this ground.

It was Surya and Hardik’s unbeaten partnership worth 76 off 38 balls which pushed their target closer to the 200-run mark and ultimately proved to be enough for them.

Shreyas Gopal bagged 2 wickets for RR while Jofra Archer and debutant Kartik Tyagi took a wicket each.

Royals have now lost 3 games in a row and dropped down to 7th on the table. They need some inspiration from somewhere to get their campaign back on track in IPL 2020.