Rajasthan Royals 127 for 4 (Parag 54*, Madhwal 3-20) won Mumbai Indians 125 for 9 (Hardik 34, Tilak 32, Chahal 3-11, Boult 3-22, Burger 2-32) with six wickets
Boult left Mumbai gasping within minutes of the match opening when he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis for first ducks in his first eight balls. His 3 for 22 was matched only by the 3 for 11 taken by Chahal, who controlled the middle overs to ensure Mumbai did not mount a winning comeback.
Chasing 126 for victory, Parag dragged Royals out of some early trouble and helped the chase. He finished the game with sixes, sixes and fours to remain unbeaten on 54 to take the No. 1 spot in the Orange Cap leaderboard – level in runs with Virat Kohli but ahead of the strike rate.
Boult sets the demolition job
Rohit had all the support from the crowd, who chanted his name even as they booed Hardik, but his time with the bat lasted just one ball when Boult took one to get away from him and get him over. . The next ball, Boult turned it to the opposite side, bringing a full ball to catch Deer.
With two wickets falling inside the first six balls of the game, Mumbai brought on second-over Brevis at second over himself, but he too fell prey to the turning ball, bringing it to Nandre Burger at short third.
With three wickets in his first eight deliveries of the game, Boult gave the Royals a lead they never relinquished. He finished with 3 for 22.
Sparkling Chahal
After Boult’s storming opening spell, Burger swung into action. Playing as a replacement for the injured Sandeep Sharma, Burger came around the wicket to pick up Ishan Kishan with a length ball that bent and took his edge.
With Mumbai Indians 20 for 4 in three-and-a-half overs, Tilak Varma and Hardik tried to build a comeback, almost succeeding with a 56-run fifth-wicket stand, but Chahal dismissed both batsmen to snuff out any chance of a come back.
After hitting six boundaries early in his innings, Hardik fell to 34 when he was run out at mid-off trying to hit Chahal. Tilak was sent packing on 32 soon after when Chahal’s googly reached R Ashwin at short third.
Chahal completed his spell with the wicket of Gerald Coetzee late in the innings. In all, 16 of Chahal’s 24 deliveries were dots and the innings at four ended with an economy of just 2.75.
A late wicket for Avesh Khan and a second for Burger ensured Mumbai finished at 125 for 9, a score far too low on a traditionally batting-friendly surface.
Madhwal is coming along well on debut of the season
Only wickets could save Mumbai after this batting effort, and they played their trump card early when Jasprit Bumrah shared the new ball, with Kwena Maphaka, for the first time this season.
Madhwal struck with the second ball of his spell when he got Sanju Samson to clip his stumps and added a second when Jos Buttler pulled him to fine leg. He added a third later in the 13th over when Ashwin sent the lead off a short delivery to point. Madhwal was the standout bowler for Mumbai Indians with 3 for 20.
Parag’s form continues
Parag came in at No. 5 on the orange hat list and ended the day with the hat on his head. With no real pressure on the scoreboard on this occasion, No. 4 Parag played risk-free cricket early on but smashed Coetzee with four fours and two sixes.
It all started with back-to-back boundaries from Coetzee in the eighth over, followed by another lofted four over the covers in the 11th over. He then smoked Bumrah to mid-off in the 14th over before depositing Piyush Chawla at long-on in the 15th over.
Parag then put the finishing touches on the result by hitting Coetzee for 16 runs off the first three balls of the 16th over. The first ball went for a six over the covers, and he reached his next fifty with a slog over midwicket. The winning runs came over wicketkeeper Kishan’s head and sent Royals and Mumbai Indians to opposite ends of the table.
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx