After Sandeep Sharma's fifer, Yashasvi Jaiswal's century took centrestage at the Sawai Mansingh stadium as the Rajasthan Royals cruised to a nine wicket win over Mumbai Indians.
The Royals' final home game was memorable, with Jaiswal finally finding the big knock in IPL 2024.
Check out the top knocks of the RR vs MI match...
Mohammed Nabi
After Mumbai lost their top three batters in quick succession, Mohammed Nabi came up the order to stabilise the Mumbai innings. Nabi came into bat in the 4th over at the fall of Suryakumar Yadav's wicket.
He took his time and dealt in singles before he took on Avesh Khan in the 6th over and smashed him for 18 runs. Nabi started the over with a couple to square on the off side before launching the bowler for a six, pulling the short ball over deep backward square leg for a maximum.
Nabi continued to go after the bowler with the back of length ball punched off the back foot through covers. Nabi followed that up with another boundary with a cut past sweeper cover before taking a single.
After being kept quiet in the next over, he was dismissed an over later by Yuzvendra Chahal as he tried to play the ball to the leg side, but the leading edge popped up and Chahal happily accepted the return catch.
Nabi's 17-ball 23 was important to lead Mumbai's fightback.
Tilak Varma
The left hander struggled to find the runs early on, getting his runs in singles. He was happy to watch from the other end when Nabi got a hold of Avesh Khan.
Once Nabi was gone, he found his footing, starting with lofting Ravichandran Ashwin for a six over the bowler's head.
In the next over, Varma then shuffled across his stumps, got low and scooped the slower delivery over short fine leg for a four.
The 21 year old was happy to take the singles and build a partnership with Nehal Wadhera. Varma then punished Chahal who bowled a poor wide delivery, clattering it through covers for a four.
Another poor ball in the same over was again punished by Varma who rocked back and cut the back of length ball past backpoint for a four.
Varma then drilled the ball down the ground past mid off for a four off Avesh. He found runs once he was settled and put on a fifty-run stand with Wadhera in no time.
He then got to the off side and reverse swept the ball over third man for a four. He played smartly and brought out the cheeky shots with smartness to find the boundaries and sixes.
He got to his 50 off 38 balls when he slog swept Chahal for a six over deep mid wicket -- his second half century this season.
After putting on a 99 run stand with Wadhera, he continued to blast the bowlers -- Trent Boult also experienced his wrath as he snashed him for a six off the last ball of his spell.
Varma couldn't quite find the runs after Wadhera's dismissal and was finally out for 65 in the last over.
Nehal Wadhera
Coming in at the fall of Nabi's wicket, he got off the mark in no time and made his intent known. Striking at a run rate of 204, he fell agonisingly short of his maiden IPL fifty by 1 run, but played a major hand in his team's total.
He wasn't rushing to attack and was happy to play the singles but accelerated when the opporutunity came.
He hit a superb one-handed six off Avesh and lofted it over long on before hammering a pull over deep square leg for another six.
He showed good field awareness when he guided a Sandeep Sharma delivery over short third man for a four.
He also showed Chahal no mercy before he holed out to Sandeep Sharma at backward point. Wadhera's 24-ball 49, was peppered with three boundaries and four sixes.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Jaiswal entered IPL 2024 on the back of a stunning outing during their Test series win over England. But Jaiswal had been unimpressive so far, scoring just 121 runs, registering a best knock of 39 in the previous RR game. But in Royals' last home game of the season, Jaiswal found his way back with a well constructed century.
After bringing up his fifty of the season, Jaiswal switched gears to hammer his first IPL 2024 century. This is Jaiswal's second ever hundred in the IPL and both have come against Mumbai Indians.
The Mumbaikar, who plies his trade for Rajasthan in the IPL, has a penchant for scoring centuries against Mumbai in the IPL!
Rajasthan are sitting pretty at the top of the table and with Jaiswal finding the boundary ropes with ease, they have made themselves an even stronger contender for the IPL 2024 title.
After getting off to a quiet start, Jaiswal hammered his first maximum of the match with a six off Gerald Coetzee's first ball of the 4th over. The opener took a special liking to Coetzee, hammering him for two more boundaries in the same over. Jaiswal took 16 runs off Coetzee in the fourth over.
He then found the gap against Jasprit Bumrah with a classy drive through the covers in the fifth over. The opener kept the runs flowing as he taking a couple of boundaries off Nuwan Thushara in the final over of the power play before rain interrupted play. The opener was going steady at 31 off 18. The RR opener took the attack to all the MI bowlers as he kept the boundaries flowing, with Buttler at the other end.
After Jos Buttler departed, Jaiswal paired up with skipper Sanju Samson to take the Mumbai bowlers to the cleaners.
Mumbai brought Bumrah back into the attack in the 15th over, but a rampaging Jaiswal hammered the world's most lethal bowler for a six and a four on the trot to dent Bumrah's spell. He moved into the 90s with a maximum off Coetzee that went sailing over deep midwicket. On the first ball of the 19th over, Jaiswal took a single off Tilak Varma to bring up his century.
Bringing up his hundred off 59 balls, Jaiswal took his helmet off and leapt up to celebrate the big moment. With a big grin on his face Jaiswal hugged Samson.
Scoring at a rate of 173.33, Jaiswal's unbeaten 104 off 60 was peppered with nine boundaries and seven sixes.
Jos Buttler
Opening the innings alongside Jaiswal, Buttler handed the Royals a strong start. Buttler, having struck two centuries this season, got his innings underway with two back-to-back boundaries off Hardik Pandya in the first over of the chase.
After going over mid off for his first boundary, Buttler smashed the next one between short cover and extra cover to get off the mark in style. After playing out Bumrah's first over, Buttler crunched one through midwicket to take a boundary off Bumrah. Buttler then took the attack to Thushara, hammering him for consecutive boundaries.
Resuming play after the rain interruption, Buttler whacked Piyush Chawla for a boundary, but a frustrated Chawla struck on the very next ball to send Buttler packing for 37 off 23,
Scoring at a steady strike rate of 140, Buttler's 25-ball 35 included six boundaries. Buttler and Jaiswal put up the highest opening partnership for the Royals this season, adding 74 off 48 for the first wicket. Though he didn't convert it into a big score, Buttler and Jaiswal's stand laid the foundation for a comfortable RR win.
Sanju Samson
After Buttler was back in the dugout, Sanju Samson, who is enjoying a strong season himself with the willow, joined the set Jaiswal in the middle at the end of the eighth over.
After getting off the mark with a single, Samson joined the party in the 11th over, hammering Nabi for a maximum over deep midwicket. Samson then struck Hardik for another maximum over long on as he stitched a strong partnership with Jaiswal.
Samson was content playing second fiddle to Jaiswal, but picked up the occasional boundaries to power Royals to a comfortable win. Samson's unbeaten 38 off 28, included two boundaries and two maximums.
Jaiswal and Samson posted 109 off 65 for the second wicket as RR chased down the target with 8 balls to spare.
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