Sandeep Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal headline Rajasthan’s nine-wicket win over Mumbai Indians

Riding a string of low scores, Jaiswal remained guarded against the slinging debutant Nuwan Thushara and Jasprit Bumrah before pouncing on Gerald Coetzee’s menial pace. In a flash, he meted out five fours and a six and waltzed back to his best. Jaiswal and Jos Buttler propelled Rajasthan to 61 in the powerplay before the heavens opened up for nearly 40 minutes.

The rain break put Buttler off his game, but the hungry Jaiswal was not tossing this one away. Countering contrasting spin from veterans Mohammad Nabi and Piyush Chawla, Jaiswal sped to his first half-century of this IPL in 31 balls before doubling up to a blistering 59-ball ton, laced with 15 boundaries. Aided by sloppy fielding and MI’s waning grip on the ball, Jaiswal and captain Sanju Samson completed a 180-run chase without breaking a sweat.

MI’s powerplay roadblock

MI skipper Hardik Pandya was content with his choice to bat first on a dry pitch, ironically citing a relative absence of dew. However, it hardly took Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma twenty minutes to disrupt the Mumbai batting order. Boult zapped Rohit Sharma in the first over again, his indecisiveness against the left-armer paving the way for a rash slog that lobbed high and landed in Samson’s gloves.

The returning Sandeep preyed on Ishan Kishan’s concerns against the movement and found a feeble outside edge, picked up by Samson behind the stumps with a successful review. Sandeep then stepped up to dismiss the menacing Suryakumar Yadav. He struck with an ingenious delivery – a dipping, cross-seamed slower ball – that slid in to trounce Surya’s timing, ending with a tame chip to the mid-on fielder.

The early damage left MI with their second sub-50 powerplay of the season, both of which have come against the Royals.

Tilak-Wadhera riposte and Sandeep’s five-star comeback

It took a special effort by Tilak Varma (65) and Nehal Wadhera for MI to hint at a semblance of a comeback. The left-handed pair added 99 for the fifth wicket through the middle overs, taking down Yuzvendra Chahal and Avesh Khan while leaving R Ashwin wicketless for a sixth consecutive game.

However, the Royals curbed their profligacy tremendously at the death. While Chahal dismissed Wadhera on 49 in his maiden outing, a wavering Avesh’s low full-toss trapped an out-of-sorts Hardik.

Sandeep then capped off his comeback from a five-game injury layoff with his maiden five-wicket haul. He layered Tilak (65), Tim David and Coetzee with a gentle spread of slower deliveries as MI endured a second meltdown within the innings.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 179/9 in 20 overs (Tilak 65, Wadhera 49; Sandeep Sharma 5/18) lost to Rajasthan Royals 183/1 in 18.4 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 104 not out, Sanju Samson 38 not out) by nine wickets.