De Kock, death bowling to the fore as MI trump RR

Rajasthan Royals had won five of their last six games against Mumbai Indians. While most teams were finding it tough to crack the MI puzzle, the Royals were acing it. However, the defending champions turned the tables on Thursday (April 29) with a seven-wicket win, chasing down 172 rather comfortably in their first chase of the Indian Premier League 2021. After a fine restrictive bowling performance, MI's charge was led by Quinton de Kock who finished unbeaten on 70 off 50 balls, scaling the target with more than an over to spare.

How did MI go about their first chase this season?

In clinical fashion. Rohit Sharma couldn't get any timing whatsoever at the start, but Quinton de Kock who had struggled in Chennai, took his time at the start but settled into his fluent best in Delhi. Anything short, de Kock went after, but not just that, even the good length balls were finding the boundaries. Chris Morris struck in the last ball of the powerplay to put an end to Rohit's struggles against the run of play as MI ended the first six with 49 on the board.

Could they carry that on?

Yes, and with Rahul Tewatia turning the ball away from Suryakumar Yadav, he kept the momentum going with an inside-out shot that bisected sweeper and wide long off to perfection. The next ball he cut behind point. De Kock then reverse-swept Tewatia in a 14-run over with RR unable to curb the runs with four boundaries being scores in five balls. RR were mixing their bowlers, but were unable to stop Mumbai's charge. Morris got rid of Suryakumar in an over where he just conceded four runs but de Kock cashed in on Jaydev Unadkat erring in his lengths to get to a 35-ball 50.

No comeback for RR from there, then?

Didn't have a chance. Krunal Pandya, who also needed runs in a middle order that hadn't clicked to potential so far, was promoted up the order in the absence of the dropped Ishan Kishan. Together with de Kock, he not just found the middle of the bat, but was the aggressor in the 63-run stand. He was cleaned up by Mustafizur in the 17th over, but MI completed the chase with 9 balls to spare with de Kock carrying his bat through in a stellar comeback knock.

How did RR start off?

It was RR's best powerplay in a long time. This is was the first time in 21 matches that they hadn't lost a wicket in the powerplay with Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal giving them the ideal start. It was a wicket very different to what RR had been used to in Mumbai, with low bounce and a lot more skiddier and Buttler hadn't had got going so far in the five games RR played there. But against a team he's found success against, he found timing and with Jaiswal at the other end going after anything with width, RR finished the first six with 47 on the board with momentum on their side.

Could they maintain that momentum?

Jayant Yadav was struggling with his lengths to Buttler with the batsman stepping out to attack him, going for 24 in two overs. Rahul Chahar, though, after being struck for a six the ball before, struck in his fourth ball, as Buttler danced down the wicket to miss the slower one, done in by the dip to fall for 41 off 32. In his next over, he got Jaiswal with the googly as the openers were sent back in the span of three overs, bringing MI back into the contest. At 100 for 2 after 12 overs, RR were looking at a target of 180-200.

Did they get there?

No. All thanks to the brilliant bowling in the latter-half of the innings from MI. Nathan Coulter-Nile pulled back his lengths, giving away just one run in his second over, as MI were crawling their way back. Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson were finding it tough to middle most of the deliveries they faced with MI's bowlers mixing it up well. Dube let loose with a slog to get off the mark in his seventh delivery but RR were trailing behind after that initial flourish. After 15 overs, RR had 126 on the board, with 79 runs scored in the middle overs, with two overs each to face against Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.

How did they finish?

Under-par. Boult who had barely given any width upfront bowling in good areas, was taken on by Samson as he smashed successive fours to take him for 14 runs in the 16th, but Bumrah's next two overs fetched RR only 8 runs, the pacer finishing with 1-15 in his four. Samson fell to Boult for a 27-ball 42, but it was Dube's 31-ball 35 that sucked the momentum out of RR's innings. The Royals perhaps missed a trick by not having sent David Miller, who has been in good touch, in at No.4 or Morrism who has been striking some few big with few balls to go. In the end, Miller just had four balls to face as RR finished with 171, at least 20 short of what they would've liked with only 46 runs coming in the last five.

Where do they go from here?

Mumbai take on Chennai Super Kings two days later on May 1, while RR are up against a struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 2.

Brief scores:Rajasthan Royals 171/4 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 41, Yashasvi Jaiswal 32, Sanju Samson 42, Shivam Dube 35; Rahul Chahar 2-33) lost to Mumbai Indians 172/3 in 18.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 70*, Krunal Pandya 39; Chris Morris 2-33) by seven wickets.