Jos Buttler scored 89 off 43 balls against Mumbai Indians | IANS
Mumbai Indians hosted Rajasthan Royals in the 27th match of IPL 2019 at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday (April 13).
Put into bat first, Rohit Sharma (47 off 32 balls) and Quinton de Kock (81 off 52 balls) got MI off to a rollicking start, adding 96 runs in 10.5 overs. However, Jofra Archer (3/39) took some important wickets to peg the scoring rate back. Shreyas Gopal (0/21) also put pressure on the home team with his tidy bowling. Later, Hardik Pandya (28*) came up with a valuable cameo to help Mumbai pile up 187/5 in 20 overs.
Chasing the target, RR started briskly with Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler sharing a 60-run opening stand in 6.2 overs. The Rajasthan skipper was looking set for a big score before Krunal Pandya removed him on 37 off 21 balls. Afterwards, Buttler took charge and changed the complexion of the match. He completed his fifty off 29 deliveries and then thrashed the MI bowlers to all parts of the ground. Buttler smashed Alzarri Joseph for 28 runs in the 13th over to bring the required-run rate below 6.
Rahul Chahar ended the 87-run stand between Buttler and Sanju Samson by dismissing the former for 89 off 43 deliveries (8 fours and 7 sixes). Needing 41 runs from 40 deliveries, Steve Smith joined Samson at the crease. The duo opted for a sensible approach and shared a 23-run partnership before something unexpected happened. Rajasthan lost Samson (31), Rahul Tripathi (1), Liam Livingstone (1), and Smith within a span of 8 deliveries to find themselves at 174/6 after 18.1 overs. While Bumrah got rid of Samson and Smith, Krunal removed Tripathi and Livingstone
Following the mini collapse, Shreyas Gopal and Krishnappa Gowtham took the responsibility. The pair fetched 8 runs from the penultimate over off Bumrah and hit Hardik for 6 runs to help the visiting team cross the line with four wickets and three balls to spare.
Cricket experts on Twitter were left speechless with the way Jos Buttler made the mockery of Mumbai’s bowling attack to give RR its second victory of IPL 2019.
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