It was far from a beautiful tale as Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya returned to the Wankhede Stadium, as the five-time champions lost their third straight match, this time with 27 balls remaining. Rajasthan Royals dealt them a severe thrashing, moving to the top of the points table with a hat-trick of wins because to outstanding performances from Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Riyan Parag.
Soon after the game began, Boult had Mumbai in disbelief as he dismissed Dewald Brevis, Rohit Sharma, and Naman Dhir for first-ball ducks in his first eight deliveries. His 3 for 22 was only equaled by Chahal’s 3 for 11, as he dominated the middle overs to prevent Mumbai from mounting a batting resistance.
Parag led the chase and pulled the Royals out of some early difficulties as they pursued 126 for victory. He tied Virat Kohli for the most runs scored in the game with 66, but he had a higher strike rate and concluded with six, and four to remain undefeated at 54.
Boult gave the Royals an early edge that they never relinquished, taking three wickets in his first eight deliveries of the match. Tilak Varma and Hardik attempted to rally the Mumbai Indians, who were 20 for 4 after three-and-a-half overs. They nearly succeeded with a 56-run partnership at the fifth wicket, but Chahal removed both batsmen to put an end to any hopes of a rally.
Chahal ended his run close in the innings by dismissing Gerald Coetzee. Of Chahal’s 24 deliveries, 16 were dots, and he finished his four-over spell with an economy of just 2.75.
On a pitch that is usually batting-friendly, Mumbai concluded with a score of 125 for 9, too low thanks to a late wicket for Avesh Khan and a second for Burger.
Three of the six powerplay overs were bowled by Bumrah, and the Royals batsmen did not let him to take a wicket. Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed by Maphaka in the first over itself, while Akash Madhwal, who was playing in his maiden IPL 2024 match, claimed the next three wickets.
Sanju Samson chopped on to Madhwal’s stumps with the second ball of his spell, and he added another when Jos Buttler pulled him to fine leg. After that, in the thirteenth over, he added a third when Ashwin hit a leading edge off a short delivery to point. With a 3 for 20, Madhwal was the Mumbai Indians’ most impressive bowler.
Then, in the 16th over, Parag finished off the match by smashing Coetzee for 16 runs off the first three balls. He reached his fifty with a slog over midwicket on the next ball after the opening ball was smashed for six over the covers. The winning runs went over the head of wicketkeeper Kishan, moving the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals to opposing sides of the points table.
