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Xtra Time Web Desk: In the IPL 2024, it seems like nothing is going right for the Mumbai Indians. Hitting a rough patch, they lost all three matches at the start of the competition under the pressure of Harkik Pandya's team. Mumbai was set to play their first match at home ground on Monday, 1^st April. They lost to the Rajasthan Royals by 6 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium. In response to Hardik's team's 125 runs for 9 wickets, Rajasthan managed to score 127 runs for 4 wickets in 15.3 overs.

Batting collapse plagued the Mumbai at their home ground. The batters of Hardik's team couldn't put up an expected fight against the Rajasthan Royals. Trent Boult and Yuzvendra Chahal struggled to handle the ball in the dewy conditions for Mumbai's batters. Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson decided to field after winning the toss. Despite getting the opportunity to bat first on familiar ground, Mumbai couldn't capitalize. Losing wickets at regular intervals from the start of the innings, Hardik's team faltered. Opening batsman Ishan Kishan managed to score 16 runs off 14 balls, but after him, Mumbai's batsmen returned one after another with zero runs. Ishan hit 2 fours and a six. The other opener Rohit Sharma, third-batsman Namon Dhir, and fourth-batsman Devald Brave couldn't score any runs. Boult missed the opportunity for a hat-trick with the pressure on.

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After losing 4 wickets for 20 runs, Mumbai's innings was steadied by Tilak Varma and Hardik. They managed to add 56 runs at the fifth wicket partnership. Tilak scored 32 runs off 29 balls with two sixes. Mumbai's captain scored 34 runs off 21 balls with six boundaries. Piyush Chawla (3) and Gerald Kuyetzer (4) failed to score runs. Towards the end, Tim David fought a bit. He scored 17 runs off 24 balls with one four and helped the team to reach 125 runs. Jasprit Bumrah remained unbeaten on 8 runs. Akash Madhav also remained unbeaten on 4 runs.

Yuzvendra Chahal was the most successful bowler for Rajasthan. He took 3 wickets by conceding just 11 runs. The spinner, dropped from the national team, proved himself once again. Boult took 3 wickets for 22 runs. Nathandra Bargar took 2 wickets for 32 runs. Abhishek Khan conceded 30 runs and took 1 wicket. Only Ravichandran Ashwin remained wicketless.

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However, the start of Rajasthan's innings wasn't smooth either. Both openers, Jayaswal and Joss Butler, got out quickly. Jayaswal scored 10 runs off 6 balls, and Butler scored 13 runs off 16 balls. Sanju, also got out scoring 12 runs off 10 balls. After scoring 126 runs, Rajasthan stumbled a bit losing 3 wickets for 48 runs. However, it didn't seem too difficult for them to win. Ryan Parag took the helm of the team's innings at number four. He was accompanied by Ashwin. The experienced off-spinner scored 16 runs off 16 balls. He hit one four. Ryan, along with Ashwin, carried on until the end. Shubham Dubey remained unbeaten scoring 54 runs off 39 balls, leading Rajasthan's innings. He hit 5 fours and 3 sixes. Shubham remained unbeaten on 8 runs.

Madhav was the most successful bowler for Mumbai, taking 3 wickets for 20 runs. South African youngster Kuenam Afakar took 1 wicket for 23 runs. He also couldn't take the wicket despite conceding 26 runs.