MI vs RR Highlights, IPL 2024: Riyan Parag nails second fifty in a row, Rajasthan beat Mumbai by six wickets

Sanju Samson, RR captain: I think the toss was the game changer. The wicket was too sticky to start off, and the experience of Boult and Burger helped us. He's playing since 10-15 years, and that is what we expected with the new ball. Didn't expect 4-5 wickets to fall, but we knew our bowlers would do well. We know we have big individuals in our team, but where we stand out is everyone recognises their role, does it and moves on. The likes of Ash and Chahal realised we had a good powerplay, and they kept it tight without really looking for wickets. (On Chahal) I think he was really fired up for this IPL, and he's been doing well for the past 2-3 years for us.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: "I have simplified everything," said Riyan Parag as he put on the Orange Cap at the end of RR's comfortable win. In his own admission, he hasn't lived up to his potential so far in the IPL. But the Assamese youngster has started this season on fire. 

Scoring a second consecutive half-century, Riyan powered RR to a third-straight win of the season. In terms of the situation he has walked into bat so far. Riyan showed restraint at the start once again, playing Jasprit Bumrah out cautiously to ensure MI didn't get wind in their sails. 

Once the finish line started to appear in sight, he set himself free. A six over cover off Gerald Coetzee was a standout shot, and he finished things off with swagger: 6, 6, 4. 

"I have had three-four years of not performing at all. You go back to the hotel room and think when you know you can do it and the results are not coming, you go back to the drawing board. I realised I wasn't practicing at this kind of level so I went and did that," Riyan said, as he waved to his mother standing somewhere in the vicinity. Things are coming up for the 22-year-old.

Hardik Pandya, MI Captain: Yes, a tough night, we didn't start the way we wanted to start. I wanted to counter, we were in a decent position to get us around 150-160, but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game, I needed to do a lot more. It's okay, we didn't expect such a surface, but you can't always have it as a batter, it's nice at times for the bowlers to have a say. It's all about doing the right things, (correct) results happen at times, at some other times it doesn't. As a group, we believe we can do a lot better, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage.

6,6,4!

Riyan Parag is having the time of his life this season. Gerald Coetzee, not so much. The Proteas pacer is bashed for 16 runs off his first three deliveries in the 16th over as Riyan Parag gets to his fifty - second in a row - to close a six-wicket win for Rajasthan.

Piyush Chawla to Riyan Parag, slot ball and Parag clears the front leg to maul this over cow corner and well into the stands for six. Rajasthan in touching distance of keeping their unbeaten run three strong this season. 15 needed off the last five overs, and Parag is 12 short of a fifty.

Jasprit Bumrah into his third over. An attempted yorker outside the off stump doesn't land in the sweet spot and Riyan Parag drives it through the covers for four. But that's that, the in-form 24-year-old doesn't take any risk against Mumbai's speedster. He's shepherded this innings quite maturely and now has a chance to see this all the way through. 100 up for Rajasthan. 101/4 after 13 overs. 

Shubham Dubey, the Impact Player in for Rajasthan, had found it tough to believe that he had become an overnight crorepati in December. Like most of the uncapped cricketers he too had filled his form hoping that he will find a place in an IPL team but says he never thought that his life would dramatically turn so suddenly. The 29-year old left-handed batsman from Nagpur was bought by Rajasthan Royals for 5.80 crores in the IPL auction held in Dubai on Tuesday. (Read his story by Devendra Pandey here)

Akash Madhwal into his final over, and a wicket follows.

Ravichandran Ashwin, itching to go for a big one, gets a top edge off a short one and is caught safely by Tilak Varma at backward point. A third wicket for Madhwal, he's bowled really well today. 

Shubham Dubey is the new batter in for Rajasthan, the Impact Player for them. He closes the over with a lovely cover drive for four. 94/4 after 12 overs.

Gerald Coetzee into his second over, a change of ends for him. But not the change of fate he was eyeing. A length ball outside the off stump and Riyan Parag carves through sweeper cover for four. Then, an inside edge induced off a short ball to Ravichandran that carries down fine leg for four. An 11-run over, Rajasthan are 84/3 after 11 overs.

Piyush Chawla introduced into the fray. Unlike his memo against the Delhi Capitals, Ravichandran Ashwin has the license to deal in singles and doubles at the moment. Chawla closes his first over with just the five runs given. Rajasthan are 73/3 after 10 overs.

Akash Madhwal given a third over on a trot. Rajasthan not taking any risks at the moment with 11 overs yet to be bowled and less than half of the chasing done at the Wankhede. Mumbai on the other hand, need wickets now if they are to salvage something from this point. Nine runs come from the ninth over, 68/3.

Gerald Coetzee with the ball for the first time this evening. Riyan Parag welcomes him with a couple of boundaries behind square on either side. First, a ramp shot off a short delivery down short third for four. Then, a swivel pull down fine leg for as many runs. 60/3 after eight overs.

Akash Madhwal into his second over. Jos Buttler goes for a pull shot but is holed up at deep backward square leg. Rajasthan could've honestly done without that shot but have now lost a third wicket.

Ravichandran Ashwin has been promoted yet again in the batting order, this time though the situation is a lot different. A small target to chased but if Rajasthan can get a few of his sixes from the other night, that should do. For now, 50 up at the end of the seventh over.

Tushar Bhaduri: Hardik Pandya received a lot of heat for using Jasprit Bumrah sparingly inside the Powerplay in their first two games. Having just 125 on the board, Mumbai Indians didn't have the luxury to save their spearhead for later in the innings, for their was to be no 'later' in this contest. So, after rookie Kwena Maphaka gave away 10 runs in the first over for Yashasvi Jaiswal's wicket, Hardik had to go to his bowling superstar, with the Wankhede cheering him on. But such was Mumbai's plight that they needed a magical Bumrah spell to send any shivers down Rajasthan Royals' spine. Bumrah bowled more than a few pearlers, as he did, but Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson survived. Hardik didn't help matters by dropping Buttler at mid-off, prompting another round of booing, and not having a second slip when Samson edged one through the region. The Rajasthan Royals skipper was dismissed soon after, but it  showed that the Mumbai Indians skipper was a step or two behind the game as well as tactics are concerned. Rajasthan Royals gave Bumrah the respect he deserved and had the leeway to play out the biggest threat as there was no scoring-rate pressure in the chase.

Right, this should be fun. Riyan Parag has started off this season on a strong note. He's looked the best he has batting in IPL so far. In comes Bumrah with Mumbai smelling some blood here. The game may still be in Rajasthan's favor but if Mumbai, Bumrah can muster a couple of wickets here in the powerplay, it can go very wrong for the visitors. For now, no risks taken from either Parag or Buttler. End of the powerplay, Rajasthan are 46/2.

Akash Madhwal replaces Kwena Maphaka. And he gets the breakthrough!

A short of a length delivery and Sanju Samson, looking to cut the ball, gets an underedge onto the stumps. A second wicket for Mumbai. A fine first over that from the 30-year-old from Roorkee. Just the three runs and a wicket off it. 44/2 after five overs.

Bumrah into his second over is hit for a boundary by Jos Buttler off the very first delivery. A dot ball follows before Buttler gets under a fullish delivery but only manages to get it as far as mid off where skipper Hardik Pandya *almost* takes a sensational low-diving foward catch. For a second the crowd at Wankhede thought he had. After all that's followed earlier this evening, that would've been such a satisfying moment for the captain. One that could've opened up the game slightly for the home side. 

The over instead ends up with Rajasthan having nine wickets intact and another boundary down short third - off an outside edge, for four. 41/1 after four overs.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: On paper, Rajasthan Royals have one of the most exciting opening partnerships in the IPL. Yashasvi Jaiswal has made heads turn in international cricket in recent times. Jos Buttler is one of the most destructive batters on his day. But, on the field, the opening partnership has provided poor returns so far for RR. In all three of their matches, the first wicket has fallen before the end of the third over, meaning Sanju Samson has had to walk in early repeatedly. 

In the first match, Buttler fell at the end of the second over against Lucknow. In the second match, Jaiswal was dismissed also in the second over against Delhi. On Monday in Mumbai, Jaiswal was the first to go again, as he was out in the first over, caught at cover off Kwena Maphaka, to give the 17-year-old pacer his first IPL wicket. JosWal, as RR's social media dubbed this combo, is yet to fire in unison in IPL 2024.

Maphaka continues from the other end. Jos Buttler or Josh, whatever he likes to be called these days, presses forward to drive one wide of the fielder at cover for his first four. 

Sanju Samson then wraps up the over with back to back fours, both past the fielder at point. 30/1 after three overs.

It was one of the points the pundits had raised against the MI think tank, specifically Hardik Pandya, following their opening two games. Why not go straightaway with Jasprit Bumrah from one of the ends in the powerplay? It's exactly what they've done tonight. A wicket from Maphaka in the first over, in comes Bumrah from the other. Beats Sanju Samson on the outside edge in the first over before straying one down the leg side that ends up as 5 wides. An otherwise tight over from the pace spearhead. 17/1 after two, Rajasthan.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: For a while there, Hardik Pandya looked like he was well on his way to playing a definitive redemption innings. After more drama at the toss, and utter chaos wrecked by the left-arm pacers of Rajasthan Royals, Hardik was resurrecting MI's batting effort. Yuzvendra Chahal, who had made his IPL debut with Mumbai Indians in 2013 lest we forget, got the current MI captain. It wasn't exactly a tease, but it had enough loop to make Hardik go for a big shot but also not quite in the hitting zone as it turned and made the batter connect only with the bottom of the bat. 

Soon after, Chahal used one of his signature moves of luring a batter away from his hitting zone. For the right-handers he often uses it as a set-up delivery, but for left-handers it becomes a wicket-taking option with the angle. The reward was another well-set batter's wicket as Tilak Varma fell. It's a big week in the world of chess, and Chahal once again offered a reminder of his ability to outthink batters. He finished with superb figures of 4-0-11-3.

Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal had had a forgetful night in their last outing. This is a perfect target to find some runs and assert their dominance. At the other end, it's Kwena Maphaka who's been handed the new ball. South Africa's tearaway pacer from the U19 World Cup this year had a scarring experience himself in the previous game as SRH batters pummelled him. Can he set things up for MI early in the game for a possible twist?

Not the best of starts for the Proteas as Jaiswal opens up his arms to slash one behind square on the on side for the first four of the innings. It's followed by an uppish-but-safe shot over the mid wicket region for as many runs. But Jaiswal, in his search for a third boundary, lofts the ball straight to Tim David at extra cover. 10/1 in the first over.

Yuzi Chahal (3/11): Was trying to vary my pace, just tried to mix my length and pace. A few balls were turning, so I tried to bowl that ball against Hardik. I always back my skills, this is the format where you go for runs, sometimes you get wickets. There's little dew, but we need to play well in the first six overs.

Avesh Khan to bowl the last over for RR. Jasprit Bumrah claims a boundary but it isn't enough as Mumbai finish at 125/9. The hosts never recovered from the early wickets and Rajasthan, with two wins in their bag, would think they've got the advantage here.

Nandre Burger scampers in for his last over.

Reminder, Tim David is still in the middle, rejecting singles as he looks to carve some boundaries for Mumbai to finish with a slightly more respectable total. It's not happened for them. A short one, dispatched straight to Trent Boult in the deep down square leg. There's a Mumbai fan in the stands who's hitting his head in dismay. He won't be the only one. It's been that kind of an outing for them. 115/9, with one over left to be played.

Avesh Khan into his second over. A good time for him to finish his quota after what was not such a good first over from the pacer who closed a win for Rajasthan against Delhi last week. Just the two runs in the 18th over. MI are 113/8.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Mumbai Indians since pretty much the toss when Sanju Samson called the flip of the coin in his favor and opted to bowl first. His pacers set the way and Yuzvendra Chahal furthermore capitalised against an under pressure MI side that's looked a shadow of the five-time IPL winning team they once were in what is their first home outing of the season. 

A three-fer for Chahal!

Into his last over, the leggie removes Gerald Coetzee with another slower leg-breaker. The Proteas pacer looking to clear the covers is caught inside the circle by Hetmyer. A wicket maiden from Chahal to close a superb spell. 4-1-11-3. After 17 overs, MI are 111/8.

Trent Boult, who kickstarted the Mumbai collapse in the powerplay, comes in to bowl his last over. 

There's a rare leg-stump half volley on offer and Tim David takes it with both hands, flicking it behind square on the on side for four. The Kiwi finishes with figures of 4-0-22-3. 111/7 after 16 overs.

Ashwin to round up his quota. 

Gerald Coetzee has joined Tim David in the middle. He may not have got any wicket but what a fine spell this has been from Ravichandra Ashwin, who's only conceded one boundary off his four overs - a cut from Hardik Pandya in the first over. A couple of overs leaking just the six runs followed and he closes it with the most economical of the lot. 102/7 after 15 overs.

Another on bites the dust!

Tilak Varma, looking to end the boundary drought, has a go at what would've been a wide delivery and ends up getting a thick edge that carries to Ravichandran Ashwin at short third. A second wicket for Chahal, seventh for Rajasthan. Nothing going right for Mumbai at the moment. 97/7 after 14 overs.

Ravi Ashwin into his third over. Rajasthan have got the complete control of the proceedings at the moment. Tim David (6 off 7) and Tilak Varma (32 off 27) not taking any risks. Another economical over following a wicket in the last. Six runs come from the 13th over, the scoreboard reads 95/6.

Piyush Chawla is the new man in. The run rate is likely to take the hit following Hardik Pandya's wicket in the 10th over. Ashwin bowls a six-run over. 

Avesh Khan bears the fruits for the off-spinner's tight over. Chawla, looking to slice one behind square on the off side, locates Shimron Hetmyer at backward point. The experiment doesn't work for Mumbai as they lose a sixth wicket. Tim David finally walks in to bat. 89/6 after 12 overs.

Hardik Pandya's innings comes to an end. Yuzvendra Chahal doing Yuzvendra Chahal things. A typical slower leggie from Chahal that lures the MI skipper into going big over the long on boundary, but it only travels as far as Rovman Powell at the boundary. Pandya's dejected. He'd got the start to take this deep, but decided to continue his search for boundaries and has paid for it. He departs for 34 off 21. MI are 77/5 at the halfway stage.

Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his 200th IPL game, into his first over. An almost suicidal attempt for a second run from Hardik Pandya but he's back into the crease just in time before Sanju Samson whips away the bails. The MI skipper closes the over with a cut shot in front of square for four. Made room for himself down the leg stump and confidently dispatched it through covers. He's in the mood today. 75/4 after nine overs.

Spin introduced from the other end, it's Yuzvendra Chahal who will roll his arms for the first time tonight. Pandya uses his wrists to cut the leg spinner down short third for four. That was played very late, another fine shot. Mumbai need him to stay on longer in the middle. 65/4 after eight overs.

Avesh Khan into the attack. He'd bowled so well the other night in Jaipur, conceding only four runs when 17 were needed in the last over. In Mumbai though, it's not the greatest of starts of the Indian quick. Tilak Varma pulls him over fine leg for a six before Hardik Pandya steers him down the other side behind the stumps for four. He races to 20 in no time. Mumbai, 59/4 after seven overs.

Boult into his third over. Tilak Varma gets his first six of the innings, a nonchalant flick. 

At the other end, it's Hardik Pandya under the spotlight tonight. Nandre Burger welcomes him with steaming pace but the Mumbai captain makes the most of it to start off quick. A six and two fours to close what has been an otherwise dismal powerplay for the home side.

Hardik at 16 off nine. Is this the night he finally wins over the Mumbai fans? 46/2 after six overs.

Sriram Veera: And when he walked in with Mumbai wobbling at 20 for 4 in the fourth over, there was silence. No boos. Not much cheers either. Then the penny dropped when the stadium announcer first involved the old Mumbai chant: Ganpati bappa Mourya. The crowd repeated it. By this time, Pandya had taken stance and that’s when the announcer shouted out his name. Then came the boos, starting from square-leg region and the aural taunt spread around.

Now it's Nandre Burger who has a wicket for himself. He was bombarding Kishan with deliveries down his leg stump in the previous over. Into his second, bowling from over the wicket, he sets a bait with one that goes away from the southpaw and takes an outside edge. Sanju Samson completes the catch. Mumbai lose a fourth wicket as the captain Hardik Pandya walks in to bat. 

Tushar Bhaduri: 'Mumbai ka Raja' got a great ovation when he walked into the Wankhede Stadium, but that didn't help him when he received a pearler from Trent Boult first up. Left-arm pace swinging into him has been Rohit Sharma's kryptonite for a long time, and he would have been expecting and preparing himself for one. But it was the away-going delivery that did for the India captain. The Mumbai crowd that had professed its love for the multiple-time IPL-winning captain was stunned. It was the reversal of fortune from the 50-over World Cup semifinal at the same venue when Rohit had taken down Boult in the early exchanges. But that was during the daytime when the seas breeze hardly aids lateral movement. The start went from bad to worse from Mumbai Indians when Naman Dhir was trapped in front next ball, forcing the home team to exercise their Impact Player option much earlier that they would have liked.  Not that it helped them as Boult accounted for South African youngster Dewald Brevis in his next over. Boult is dynamite in his opening spell and didn't disappoint again. The narrative coming into the game was the reception new MI skipper Hardik Pandya would get, but the Rajasthan Royals – coming on the back of two successive wins – proved that one couldn't take eyes off them.

Devendra Pandey, from Wankhede: Hardik Pandya got booed inside the stadium as he walked in. The Wankhede crowd cheered when Rohit Sharma made his way into the middle, screaming,"Mumbai ka Raja kaun (Who's the king of Mumbai)? Rohit Sharma." The Mumbai Police has deployed cops in civil clothes at the MCA pavilion, where the Mumbai Indians dugout is.

Venkata Krishna B: For the first time since the Impact Player rule came in place last year, this is the first time a player has been substituted this early into a game. With Trent Boult striking twice in his first over, MI brought in Dewald Brevis in place of Naman Dhir who was dismissed off the last ball of the first over.

Ishan Kishan had denied Trent Boult of a hattrick but the Kiwi got a reason to celebrate off the very next delivery in his second over. A length ball outside the off stump and Brevis drove it straight to Nandre Burger at short third man. A third wicket for the Kiwi. Mumbai in deep trouble. 16/3 after three overs.

Nandre Burger canters in from the other end. And Kishan is set to take him off the very first ball. Quick and off the pads and the southpaw flicks it over deep square leg for six. There's been some plan about bowling down the leg side to Kishan. Burger is persistent with the length, and even induces an lbw appeal off it. Another one down the same line, shorter, catches a glove off the batter and runs down fine leg for four. 13/2 after two overs.

It's a matchup that's been his undoing before - Rohit Sharma against left-arm seamers. And it's what gets the better of him here. Boult uses the angle away from the right-hander from over the wicket and catches the faintest of outside edges. Sanju Samson takes the catch and Rohit walks straightaway. Mumbai lose a wicket in the first over.

But that's not it. Naman Dhir is the new batter in, was. Nips one back into the young Punjab batter and he's plumb. A review doesn't help. Mumbai 1/2 after the first over.

Amidst the cold reception of the new Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya at the toss, the Wankhede was loud in its approval of Rohit Sharma. It's he who walks out to open the innings for the home side alongside Ishan Kishan. The first two games have seen an attacking mindset from the former MI skipper. Can he make it count with a big score tonight? 

Ishan Kishan had also looked in fine fettle the other night, another quickfire innings would do him nicely. It's Trent Boult who has the new ball. Rajasthan's new-ball pacers - Boult and Nandre Burger - have been one of the reasons behind their early success this season. It's their presence that would've made Sanju Samson bank on bowling first. Can they run through an under pressure MI top order early?

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: The Hardik Pandya saga is reaching new levels of absurdity with every passing day in this IPL. Commentator Sanjay Manjrekar starting the toss broadcast with "We are all set for the toss here. We have got the two captains with me. Hardik Pandya, captain of the Mumbai Indians. Big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen... (pause, some boos) Behave!" is just another bizarre moment in this whole episode. Why a broadcaster on the world feed has to make such a comment to make things worse than they already are, is anyone's guess.

Even before the match, there was plenty of noise about how he will be received by the Mumbai Indians faithful at the Wankhede Stadium. You could guess he wasn't going to be warmly welcomed in Ahmedabad, understandably. The boos in Hyderabad were a little surprising. But it would seem, at least at the toss, Mumbai too is not fully on board with how this whole transfer has panned out. The juxtaposition of Hardik speaking about how exciting it is for him to be back leading this side, with the crowd booing made for jarring viewing. Hardik's tough start to life as MI captain continues.

READ: Wankhede should understand that Hardik Pandya doesn’t deserve hate for being ambitious, writes Sandeep Dwivedi in his weekly sports column. 

Rajasthan Royals: Rovman Powell, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Sen, Shubham Dubey, Abid Mushtaq

Mumbai Indians: Dewald Brevis, Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Nehal Wadhera, Shams Mulani

Stuart Broad, via Star Sports' Press room: It’s been a really interesting atmosphere towards Hardik, the first couple of games, with the crowds, but ultimately they’ve been away from home. So, when you play for a big franchise like Mumbai Indians, its like when I play for England against Australia, you expect to go away from home and get hostile crowds. We’ve seen in this IPL so far, the home teams have been dominating and that’s got a lot to do with atmospheres. As a player, it’s important that you don’t just look to ignore it and pretend it’s not going to happen. You have to mentally steel yourself for that sort of atmosphere. I think where it might be quite hurting for Hardik is if the Mumbai fans do it; that will be a really interesting sort of play for him because he’s so passionate about playing for Mumbai Indians. He feels like he has the full support and backing of the Wankhede Stadium. So, I think there’s where he may need to steel his mindset. Ultimately, in professional sport, if you are playing for a winning team, if you are winning games, that’s what you have to focus on. If your mind actually drags you to wondering to what the crowd are going to do, or how the atmosphere is going to be towards you as a player, ultimately, you are not making the right tactical decision.

If I am brutally honest towards Hardik and Mumbai Indians so far, they have made some tactically quite poor decisions. They are not using Bumrah quite in the right ways; the best T20 bowler in the world. You have to strike with him. Even to the first ball of their IPL campaign, Hardik bowling the first over, that was tactically the wrong choice. When you have leaders like Jasprit Bumrah, get him to set the tone, get him to try and take a wicket with the first ball of the innings and get the energy behind you like that. Even Hardik’s batting, if he were to come in and lead the group, get up at No. 5 and go and score some runs. Ultimately, he probably just has to make sure he starts getting his tactical decisions correct and starts winning games. That only unites your team and unites your fans.

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jasprit Bumrah, Kwena Maphaka

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal

Hardik Pandya, Mumbai captain: We were planning to bowl first. It's quite exciting to be a part of this game. We always look forward to the future, need to follow the process. Looking forward to playing a brand of cricket everyone enjoys. Playing the same team.

Sanju Samson, Gujarat captain: We want to bowl first. The wicket looks fresh, it's the first game of the season, will get help for the fast bowlers. We would like to keep on doing the same things. Sandeep misses out, he is not fit. Burger comes in.

Sanju Samson wins the toss and Rajasthan elect to bowl first.

But the bigger buzz around the flip of the coin were the boos from the Wankhede crowd just as Hardik Pandya's name was called by Sanjay Manjrekar, who followed it up with, 'Big round of applause ladies and gentlemen. Behave.'

It wouldn't stop the fans from further conveying their displeasure as Hardik spoke on the mic afterwards. Booing that was followed by the chants of Rohit Sharma. 

Dhruv Jurel: Feeling good, did well in the Tests, the transition is different from red-ball to white-ball cricket, but that's what you expect as a professional. The confidence gained playing for India has helped me, I want to contribute and help my team win. We have played well in the 2 matches, someone or the other is contributing for the team, either with the ball or with the bat.

Brian Lara: It's pitch number 7. 63m and 65m square boundaries respectively, 74m down the ground. This surface wasn't used last year, the two tracks adjacent to it were used. If you bat first, you need to score big here. It's a red soil pitch, looks great and has a generous covering of grass. You are going to see a lot of runs. Spinners won't be effective.

Matches played: 109

Highest team total: 235/1

Lowest team total: 67

Matches won batting first: 50

Matches won batting second: 59

It’s been one of the recurring queries over the past few seasons – how long can Rajasthan persist with him? The hype has been there since he first arrived on the IPL stage, but the returns haven’t come. The trolls have followed. “People have a problem with me chewing gum. If my collar is up, that’s a problem,” he’d said to The Indian Express last year. On Thursday, the collar stayed down in Jaipur as Parag rose to the occasion, notching his best-ever score in the league. This, after having been down with a flu earlier this week. (Read more)

Following his pupil’s eye-catching start in South African colors, Neil Levenson had forewarned that Nandre Burger was just getting started. “The next big target – even though he’s touching it – we’re calling it Project 150. To try and bowl it consistently. It’s quite a task, I know, but he will be a ‘nightmare’ for any batting unit when he gets there,” Levenson had told this newspaper.

As the speedometer touched the elusive mark on Thursday, Burger managed to cut down on the early advantage Mitch Marsh had offered the visitors. The Australian had peppered the Proteas for three fours before the latter dispatched a fiery in-swinger to knock his off stump.

Even dastardly was the left-armer’s setup to remove Ricky Bhui. He unleashed a 150 kph ripper on the pads. Softened up, Bhui was undone by a slower one – which in Burger’s books is 138.5 kph – which caught a deflection off his glove on its way to the keeper. 

Played 27

MI: 15 

RR: 22

At Wankhede, MI have a 5-3 edge.