xtratime Logo

XtraTime Web Desk: Mumbai Indians and their great run of form continues as they beat Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs and now in the top of the points table.

Batting first, Mumbai put up a total of 193 runs with the loss of 4 wickets. Credit goes to Surya Kumar Yadav with his brilliant innings of 79 runs of 47 balls and then Hardik Pandya in the end scored 30 of 19 runs to put Mumbai in a very good total.

Rajasthan Royals had a very bad start in the second innings. They lost 3 wickets in the three overs out of which 2 were of Steve Smith and Sanju Samson. Jos Buttler did his best and scored 70 of 44 balls but he was a lone warrior of the team. In the end Jofra Archer hit few boundaries but that's that. Jasprit Bumrah again showed his class today. Whether it's in the powerplay, middle over or in the death, Bumrah bowled superbly. He took 4 wickets and gave away just 20 runs in his 4 overs. James Pattinson and Trent Boult took 2 wickets each. With this, Rajasthan Royals now lost 3 matches in a row.

Surya Kumar Yadav was awarded the Man of the Match award following his brilliant knock. He however suffered a small concussion during the match. Speaking about that and his innings, Yadav said “Feeling much better now. I felt it was coming in this game. The last few games I was just finding ways to get out. I believed in myself and just tried to bat till the end.”

Yadav also spoke about the Mumbai Indians management has given. “I think the added responsibility they've given me right now - not pressure, they've just told me to express myself.”

He further added, “This lockdown helped me with some of my shots. Most importantly the thing that satisfies me is the team winning. Because I knew three wickets down I needed to bat till the end.”

Rohit Sharma, the winning captain is very happy with his squad. In the post match content conference he seemed confident about doing good in this year's IPL and said, “We strive to play with power. We've got quality in this squad. We'e given confidence to each on of them because we know they're very talented.”

Speaking about the conditions and the pitch in Abu Dhabi, the hit-man said, “The conditions are quite helpful [for our fast bowlers]. We were not sure how the pitches were going to be, whether it'd be helpful for our pace battery. But it was nipping around and it's good to have guys who can exploit those conditions.”

Mumbai Indians were amazing in the fielding today. It's just this match or this season, they have been brilliant since the beginning. Today, Anukul Roy and Kieron Pollard took 2 catches that will definitely be one of the best catches of this year's IPL. “The fielding was brilliant, it's something we take pride in. We've worked hard on it after coming here. I'm glad that we can pull of those magnificent catches. It was coming [for SKY].”

Speaking about the Man of the Match of today's match, Rohit said, “I spoke to him today before the match. He was batting really well all these games. It was all about shotmaking - today his shortmaking was perfect. All the innovative shots at the end came in handy.”

Trent Boult took 2 very important wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson. In the post match conference he said, “I think the whole pack is working together. I think we have a pretty clear game plan. It's a good wicket, but the way we've managed to take wickets [has been good].”

Boult also spoke about Mumbai Indians' bowling quality and his future plans. “You're always challenged with quality players, intimidating you a bit. But I think I'd love to see the ball swing around a little more at the top. Hasn't been a huge feature of this tournament.”

The losing captain Steve Smith said, “I think losing wickets early doesn't help. We haven't been able to get a good start in the last three games. Outside of Jos and Jofra at the end, we've got work to do. Stokes is not out till the 10th.”

The captain also gave an update on Ben Stokes, who's now in quarantine. “He's not too far away. Hopefully we can get a few wins and get some momentum before he comes in. I don't think we need to panic too much.”

Even after losing 3 matches in a row, Steve Smith is calm and confident. “It's just about implementing our plans and playing good cricket for longer. Hasn't been a good last three games. Need to turn it around and get some momentum.”