After losing all of their first eight games of IPL 2022, the Mumbai Indians finally got off the mark when they defeated the Rajasthan Royals by five wickets in match no. 44. While Mumbai have already been disqualified from the race to the playoffs, this win had a lot of fans smiling.
Batting first, the Royals scored 158 runs in their 20 overs. Jos Buttler was once again the star of Rajasthan’s bowling line-up – he scored 67 off 52 laced with five boundaries and four maximums. For Mumbai, Hrithik Shokeen and Riley Meredith picked up two wickets each while Kumar Kartikeya and Daniel Sams chipped in with one each.
Chasing 159 to win, Mumbai got off to a poor start, losing their captain and opener Rohit Sharma for just two runs. But a half-century by Suryakumar Yadav and important cameos by Tilak Verma and Tim David took the team over the line with four balls to spare.
Daryl Mitchell was Rajasthan’s most expensive bowler – he conceded 20 runs in just one over. Despite losing the game, the Royals are still second in the points table with six wins in nine games. Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, continue to languish right at the bottom.
“The real potential came out today with the ball especially. We knew it will never be easy for us to restrict them to that total,” Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma said after winning the game. “And with that batting lineup we know that if we keep taking wickets it’s going to be difficult for them. That’s what we wanted to try and we did that perfectly today,” he added.
