YASHASVI Jaiswal scored an excellent undefeated 104 off 60 – his second IPL ton and his second against Mumbai Indians – to backup an excellent five-fer from Sandeep Sharma as Rajasthan Royals thumped a hapless Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur for their seventh of the season, a drubbing of the five-time champions that edged the hosts closer to a Playoffs berth.

It was the returning Sandeep’s five for 18 that was instrumental in keeping Mumbai Indians down to a sub-par total of 179, a score that Jaiswal helped chase down with nine wickets and eight balls to spare, thereby signalling his return to form after a subdued start to the season.

In the two PowerPlays of the game, Mumbai Indians were reduced to 45/3 after electing to bat by the pair of Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma. They recovered well through a 99-run stand between Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera but were unable to get a finishing kick. In the chase, Royals openers Jaiswal and Jos Buttler raced off the blocks and once the hosts had 61 on the board in the PowerPlay, they cruised to the finish line.

In IPL 2024, MI have had 50+ run PowerPlays against every other team except RR. For a second time in this fixture this year, the Royals also took three wickets in the first six overs. After a five- game drought, Trent Boult struck in the first over after Rohit Sharma miscued an attempted swipe across the line. Sanju Samson, who claimed that skier, also took the catch and claimed the review that sent Ishan Kishan back for a three-duck ball. To the scalp of Kishan, the returning Sandeep also added the big wicket of Suryakumar Yadav, who chipped a catch to mid-on as MI stumbled after making to 45/3 in the PowerPlay after the bold call of batting first.

MI promoted Mohammed Nabi up to stem the deluge of wickets. To that extent, his 17-ball 23 can be considered as job done but at 52/4 in the eighth over, MI had a big task on their hand.
They were unafraid to pair Tilak Varma with another southpaw in Nehal Wadhera even with R. Ashwin left with three overs. The two young batters were calculated in their approach and found the boundaries without any untoward risk.

At the end of 16 overs, MI were 151/4 and the stage for a final push when Boult dismissed Wadhera. The final push never came as RR produce a death-bowling clinic. Avesh, who struggled all day, gave away just six runs for the wicket of Hardik Pandya in the 19th. Sandeep Sharma then went one better in the 20th, dismissing Varma and Gerlad Coetzee with scrambled- seam slower balls before Tim David swung a full toss to deep mid-wicket. Only three runs came off the final over as Sandeep ended with a sensational five for 18, a spell that included 13 dots.
MI lost 4/28 in the final four overs to finish on 179/9.

In stark contrast to Mumbai Indians as well as their own PowerPlay record this season, Rajasthan Royals raced away to a dominant 61/0 in the PowerPlay, scoring as many as 11 boundaries. Both Jos Buttler and Jaiswal faced 18 balls each and scored 31 and 28 respectively. Their fast start forced Hardik Pandya to bowl two overs of Bumrah in the PowerPlay but the batters navigated those to pick up 11 runs.

The game was all but done at this stage with RR needing only 28 runs from the final 5 overs. The finish was all about Jaiswal and his century, which he achieved by cutting a single to sweeper cover off his 59th ball. It ended a sequence of low scores for the youngster and he celebrated with familiar gusto. Three balls later he cut a boundary to seal the deal. (Cricbuzz)