Rajasthan and Mumbai locked horns at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in the ninth match of the Indian T20 League. Mumbai followed the trend of the tournament and elected to bowl first. They bowled well in the first three overs and had Rajasthan at 17/1, having picked the wicket of Yashavi Jaiswal (1). However, the fortunes for the inaugural winners changed in the fourth over of the innings.
Jos Buttler, who was struggling at 12 off 14 balls, hit 26 runs against uncapped Indian pacer Basil Thampi. They amassed 48/2, having lost the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal (7) at the end of the powerplay. The right-hander, alongside skipper Sanju Samson (30) stitched a partnership of 82 runs for the third wicket.
Samson got out to Kieron Pollard with the scorecard reading 130. In came Shimron Hetmyer, who hit 35 off just 14 balls and added another 53 runs for the team alongside Buttler. The latter went on to score his second century of the ITL as he completed the 100th run on the 66th ball. At 183/ 3, the team looked like going past the 200-run mark but late wickets meant that the team had to be content with 193/8.
However, the score looked competitive given the bowling attack of Rajasthan. In reply, Mumbai lost two wickets in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma (10) and Anmolpreet Singh (5) in the powerplay but still managed to score 50 runs. The likes of Ishan Kishan (54) and Tilak Varma (61) stitched a partnership of 81 runs to lay a platform for the team to chase down the massive total. Trent Boult took the wicket of Kishan and Ravichandran Ashwin took the wicket of Verma.
This proved to be the turning point for the team as they kept losing wickets in regular intervals and lost the game by 24 runs, being restricted to 170/8.
This is how Twitter reacted
Another stunning knock from @josbuttler and a great win for the @rajasthanroyals ðŸ‘ðŸ˜@IPL
— Graeme Swann (@Swannyg66) April 2, 2022
If you want a brutally honest assessment of your team…please check the Fantasy teams. And the picks. You’d have a fair idea of how your team is stacking up… #IPL2022 #MIvRR
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 2, 2022
Definitely, not the start @mipaltan would have wanted for their #IPL2022 campaign. We're onto another mouth-watering contest between @gujarat_titans and @DelhiCapitals. Who do you think is going to win this one? Batao batao #GTvDC
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 2, 2022
Shreyas Iyer, Hardik, Sanju, some younger captains are having an overall good early run in the IPL. #IPL2022 #MIvsRR
— Unnikrishnan (@unni1974) April 2, 2022
Well played @rajasthanroyals looking the team to beat. @mipaltan will be much much better with @surya_14kumar back. They need him in the line up.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 2, 2022
Love the way Rajasthan Royals have played in these two games. Top 5 batters have delivered and the bowlers have been at the top of their game too. Batting depth is still a concern but all good as long as one of the top five batters is there until the end. #MIvRR
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) April 2, 2022
The @rajasthanroyals might well be asking "What was that you were saying about winning only if you chase….."
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 2, 2022
Rajasthan Royals won both the matches by defending the total in #IPL2022 – only team to do in this season.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 2, 2022
@josbuttler 3rd T20 💯 today for @rajasthanroyals against @mipaltan , so good!!!! #IPL2022 @KookaburraCktUK pic.twitter.com/91Wta7ahDl
— Neil Fairbrother (@Harv366) April 2, 2022
