Images from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, in Delhi, on Thursday.
Quinton de Kock led the way with a blistering 50 as defending champions Mumbai Indians notched a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in the match, in Delhi, on Thursday.
The South African opener smashed an unbeaten 50-ball 70 and Krunal Pandya scored 39 off 26 balls Mumbai Indians chased down a target of 172 in 18.3 overs to snap their two-match losing streak.
Kieron Pollard provided the finishing touches with an unbeaten 16 from eight balls.
Chris Morris was Rajasthan Royals’ most successful bowler with figures of 2 for 33) while Mustafizur Rahman accounted for the other one.
Earlier, put in to bat, Rajasthan Royals posted a decent 171 for four with useful contributions from skipper Sanju Samson, who scored 42 off 27 balls, Jos Buttler (41 off 32) and Shivam Dube (35 off 31).
For Mumbai Indians, spinner Rahul Chahar bagged two wickets for 33 runs.
Left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya opened the bowling for Rajasthan Royals, while Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock got the Mumbai Indians innings underway.
The pair gave Mumbai a good start, putting on 49 for 1, before Chris Morris struck.
The South African pacer got the big wicket of Rohit with the last delivery of the powerplay.
It was a fuller one and Rohit chipped it straight to Sakariya at mid-on. He was was out for 14 off 17 balls, which included a six.
De Kock and Suryakumar Yadav put on 34 runs for the second wicket before Morris struck again, having Yadav caught by Jos Buttler. It was another big wicket for Rajasthan Royals.
Morris pitched the ball up on middle and leg and Yadav could only send the ball flying to Buttler at short mid-wicket.
Yadav was out for 16 off 10 balls, which included 3 fours, and Mumbai Indians were 87 for after 10 overs.
De Kock continued to plunder though and brought up his 50 off Jaydev Unadkat’s second delivery in the 12th over with a single.
Krunal Pandya, who came in at the fall of Yadav, also went in search of quick runs, scoring 33 off 22, as Mumbai ended the 16th over on 140 for 2.
He hit Mustafizur Rahman off the first ball in the next over to pick his second six, but was cleaned up by the Bangladesh pacer off the fourth delivery as his thick inside edge carried on to the stumps.
Krunal was out for 39 off 26 balls, which included 2 fours and 2 sixes, as Mumbai were reduced to 147-3 at the end of the 17th over.
Kieron Pollard, who came in next, then took Morris to the cleaners in the next over, hitting him for two fours and a six to collected 15 runs from the 18th over, which fetched 16 runs.
Mumbai needed nine from two overs for victory. Pollard hit Mustafizur for a four off the third ball of the 19th over to complete the formalities.
The West Indian was unbeaten with 16 off eight balls.
De Kock stroked an unbeaten 70 from 50 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes.
Earlier, fine knocks by skipper Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler propelled Rajasthan Royals a competitive 171 for 4.
Samson blazed his way to 42 off 27 balls after Rajasthan openers Buttler (41 off 32) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (32 off 20) laid the foundation with a 66-run stand in 7.4 overs.
Shivam Dube also made a useful contribution of 35 from 31 balls.
The Royals though scored just 46 runs from the last five overs, while losing two wickets.
For Mumbai Indians, spinner Rahul Chahar snapped two wickets for 33 runs, while pacers Jasprit Bumrah (1-15) and Trent Boult (1-37) did well to restrict Rajasthan.
Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bowl. They left out Ishan Kishan and brought in pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Rajasthan were unchanged.
Jos Buttler, looking to break his run of low scores in the IPL, and the young Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the batting for Rajasthan Royals while Trent Boult opened the bowling for Mumbai Indians.
After two quiet overs, the Royals got the runs coming. They got eight from the third over and 13 off the fifth. They then made the most of the last powerplay overs when Nathan Coulter-Nile was introduced, taking 14 runs from it.
Jaiswal scored a four and six to get to 20 off 11 balls, while Buttler was on 26 off 25, as the Royals scored 47 for 0 after six overs.
Buttler hit Jayant Yadav for a six in the next over to get to 34 off 29 balls.
Rahul Chahar was introduced in the eighth over and he too was hit by the England batsman for a six. However, the leg spinner ended Buttler’s innings with the fourth delivery of the eighth over, having him stumped by Quinton de Kock.
Buttler stepped out of his crease and attempted a slog. The ball turned past his outside edge and de Kock came up with an easy stumping with him yards down the pitch.
Buttler was out for 41 off 32 balls, which included 3 fours and 3 sixes as the Royals were 65 for 1.
Chahar then picked his second wicket, taking a return catch from Jaiswal with the penultimate delivery of his second over.
Jaiswal was out for 32 off 20, including 2 fours and 2 sixes, and the Royals were 91-2 after 10 overs.
Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube then came up with some good batting to take Rajasthan Royals to 126 without further loss by the end of the 15th over in a third-wicket stand of 35 runs off 31 balls.
Dube brought up the 50 runs stand between the two in the 17th over with a single off Jasprit Bumrah.
However, Boult broke the 49-ball 57-run partnership with the fourth delivery of the 18th over uprooting Samson’s stumps. The batsman scored 42 off 27 ball, including 5 fours.
Dube hit a six off the last delivery for six to take Rajasthan to 155 for 3. The New Zealand pacer finished his spell with figures of 4-0-37-1.
Dube was then dismissed caught and bowled by Bumrah after a fine 35 off 31 balls, which included 2 fours and 2 sixes.
Bumrah finished with figures of 4-0-15-1.
Coulter-Nile returned to bowl the last over. He was hit for a four by Riyan Parag off the first delivery but missed out on a wicket as Rohit Sharma dropped Parag off the fourth ball.
12 runs came off the over as David Miller hit a four off the last delivery to get Rajasthan Royals to 171-4.
They scored just 46 runs from the last five overs, while losing two wickets.
