IPL 2021: Quinton anchors MI to seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals

IPL 2021: Quinton de Kock and Krunal Pandya starred with the bat as Mumbai Indians registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.

In an attempt to slow down the flow of runs in what was until then a gnarly run-chase for the Mumbai Indians, Chris Morris dug in a bouncer halfway through the 18th over and aimed for Kieron Pollard’s skull. The fury-ball from the Rajasthan Royals all-rounder even found its target—crashing flush into the MI logo of Pollard’s helmet. But it simply ricocheted to the boundary rope, just as two previous shots from Pollard’s bat had in the over. A six and a four and the latest head-byes-boundary—in the space of three balls when 24 runs were needed from 18—tilted the scales for good, before Man-of-the-Match Quinton de Kock applied the finishing touches to give Mumbai only their third win this season, here.

IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians' Quinton de Kock smashed a 50-ball 70 against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.(IPL/BCCI)

Such was the day for the reigning champions, who proved that they too could eke out gritty wins when needed. In this process of push coming to shove, many players from Rohit Sharma’s side also found some of their lost mojo; starting with opener de Kock, who excelled in an anchoring role of 70 runs from 50 balls.

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Having broken a three-game spell of single-digit scores, it was de Kock’s first fifty of the season. The wicketkeeper was given valuable assistance by Krunal Pandya (39), who too found his nick with the bat if not with the ball—going for 12 runs in his only over in the first innings due to Sanju Samson.

RR skipper Samson once again led the scoring for his side with an aggressive 42. But on a day when his entire top-order similarly fell after getting starts (Jos Buttler 41, Yashasvi Jaiswal 32 and Shivam Dube 35), those runs were simply not enough. This was mainly due to the pressure applied by Jasprit Bumrah in the powerplay overs.

He hit his yorkers at will and stifled Rajasthan with figures of 1/15 from four overs. Bumrah’s pace partner Trent Boult too bowled a near-perfect yorker to get rid of Samson, but it was MI leg-spinner Rahul Chahar who showed the most heart by tossing a second ball up to Buttler after the first one had been smashed for six runs. For that bravery, Chahar ended up reaping the reward with a stumping of Buttler—easily the wicket of the afternoon game on Thursday.