Tim David’s heroics help Mumbai Indians pull off a historic run chase against Rajasthan Royals
Yashasvi Jaiswal produced an incredible century to help the Rajasthan Royals to a first-innings total of 212-7. The Mumbai Indians chased it down with three balls to spare after a late Tim David onslaught.
Rajasthan Royals’ captain Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bat first. Samson has now won the toss five times in a row. The Royals’ opening combination did not disappoint, with Yashasvi Jaiswal continuing his prime form.
The openers survived the first powerplay although Jos Buttler found runs hard to come by, at the other end. He was dismissed by Piyush Chawla on the first ball of the 8th over, with 72 runs on the board.
With the Indians needing further wickets, Arshad Khan got the big scalp of Sanju Samson. At the halfway point of the innings, Rajasthan found themselves at 97/2. With Jaiswal continuing to plunder runs on one end, Rajasthan only needed someone to anchor the other. However, Piyush Chawla returned for the next over and clean-bowled Devdutt Paddikal. The Indians smelt blood despite Jaiswal seemingly not in the mood to slow down.
He helped his team maintain a run rate of over 10 as the Royals seemed to be heading towards another big total. Rohit Sharma handed the ball to Joffra Archer for the 15th over. He got rid of the dangerous Jason Holder and conceded only 1 run. With five overs remaining, the Royals were 143/5 and the match seemed delicately poised.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden IPL ton went in vain
While Hetmeyer and Dhruv Jurel fell cheaply in back-to-back overs, Jaiswal was in the mood. Until he was dismissed in the 20th over, the 22-year old produced some exemplary cricketing shots He rarely slogged and had some high-profile victims to his name. Riley Meredith conceded three straight boundaries to Jaiswal in the 18th over, the second helping him to his century. The 19th over saw him banish none other than Archer for 2 straight maximums.
Jaiswal finally fell in the final over to a full toss from Arshad Khan. Finishing at 124 runs in just 62 deliveries, he ended up claiming the orange cap from Faf du Plessis along the way. The Royals finished with 212-7 as the second-highest source of runs proved to be in the form of ‘Extras.’
Mumbai were chasing a score of over 200 for the third match in a row. When Sandeep Sharma dismissed Rohit Sharma cheaply in the 2nd over, the pressure was automatically on. It was clear that the team needed a big partnership, and that is exactly what Ishan Kishan and Cameron Green provided.
Green in particular took the bowling on and was the sole reason why the Indians stayed within spitting distance of the required run rate. The Royals had to wait until the 9th over to get their next breakthrough, that of Ishan Kishan. The 24-year old looked poised to build a big score but was dismissed for 28.
However, the game was far from over with Suryakumar Yadav walking in at number 4. The Indians completed their 100 in the 11th over and were still in the hunt. With Cameron Green threatening to take control, it was the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin once again, who provided the vital breakthrough, his 2nd wicket in successive overs.
Mumbai was in a spot of bother, with the required run rate well above 12 per over. Suryakumar Yadav responded with a valiant 29-ball 55. He opened the 13th over with a maximum and followed it up with two boundaries. With Tilak Varma holding down one end, Yadav provided some much-needed impetus and looked determined to drive his team to victory.
He ended up losing his wicket to Trent Boult in the 16th over courtesy of a brilliant catch by Sandeep who had to dive after running backwards. The Mumbai-based franchise still needed 51 runs off the final 3.2 overs. The impetus was now on Varma and new man Tim David, the latter very much capable of producing the big hits.
The 28-year old Australian stayed true to his reputation. He produced some crucial boundaries and kept Mumbai in the hunt until the very end. The Indians produced 40 runs in overs 16-19 and still needed to score 17 in the final one. With David on strike, Samson handed the ball to Holder, who was hit down the ground for a six off the first delivery.
The pressure was now on Holder, who responded with two full tosses. Both were dispatched for sixes to complete a historic run chase for the Mumbai Indians. After chasing the game for most of the night, Tim David produced some incredible power-hitting to help his team to their first win in 3 games. This was the joint fourth-highest run chase ever recorded in the IPL.