Follow UsMumbai Indians have now lost all their three games and are the only winless side in the Indian Premier League 2024. Playing their first game of the season at the Wankhede Stadium on April 1 (Monday), Mumbai could only manage 125/9 in their 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals. Sanju Samson and his men then chased down the total in 15.3 overs, thanks to an unbeaten half-century from Riyan Parag.
Asked to bat on a juicy Wankhede surface, Mumbai’s top-order was dismantled by Trent Boult and Nandre Burger in the powerplay. Boult dismissed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis in his first two overs before Burger got rid of Ishan Kishan to reduce MI to 20/4.
In walked Hardik Pandya, with an opportunity to win over the fans who have been booing him throughout the season. And the Mumbai skipper started on a positive note. The right-hander slammed 34 off 21 deliveries and added 56 runs for the fifth wicket with Tilak Varma. However, he couldn’t convert it into a big knock and mistimed Yuzvendra Chahal’s full-length delivery into the hands of the fielder at long-on.
“Yes, a tough night, we didn't start the way we wanted to start. I wanted to counter, we were in a decent position to get us around 150-160, but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game. I think I could have done better,” said Hardik during the post-match presentation ceremony.
“It's okay, we didn't expect such a surface, but you can't always have it as a batter, it's nice at times for the bowlers to have a say. It's all about doing the right things, (correct) results happen at times, and some other times don't. As a group, we believe we can do a lot better, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage.”
While Mumbai have now lost three on the trot, the Royals have won three in a row. Samson didn’t shy away from accepting that the toss played a huge part in this game and heaped heavy praise on his bowlers. “I think the toss was the game changer. The wicket was too sticky to start off, and the experience of Boult and Burger helped us,” said Samson.
“Boult has been playing for 10-15 years and that is what we expected with the new ball. Didn't expect 4-5 wickets to fall but we knew our bowlers would do well. We know we have big individuals in our team but where we stand out is everyone recognises their role, does it, and moves on.
“The likes of Ash and Chahal realised we had a good powerplay and they kept it tight without really looking for wickets. (On Chahal) I think he was really fired up for this IPL and he's been doing well for the past 2-3 years for us.”
Boult, who broke the game open in the powerplay, was named Player of the Match. The left-arm seamer got Rohit caught behind with an away-swinger and then got one to come back in to pin Dhir right in front of the stumps.
“Never a certainty in this format, but happy to fill my role and take wickets with the new ball. We won the toss, did what we spoke about, got a couple of wickets and put the pressure on the batters,” said Boult.
Talking about Rohit’s dismissal, Boult said: “I've played against him a lot, and it is just about doing something different against him. Doesn't always work this way but happy when it does.”