Rajasthan Royals produced a dazzling performance to oust Mumbai Indians in every section of the match as they recorded a comprehensive 87-run victory in the Pepsi Indian Premier League season six match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Rajasthan bowlers flashed together to assist Royals control Mumbai to a barely 92 runs and continue their winning spree at home.
James Faulkner was the bowler of choice. He took three wickets while Ajit Chandila and Stuart Binny took two wickets each.
On the batting side, Dinesh Karthik fought a lone battle, scoring 30 runs off 32 balls but it was not sufficient to sneak Mumbai past Royals target. While pursuing 180-run target, Mumbai Indians never recuperated from their horrible start as they lost wickets at regular periods.
Stuart Binny stacked melancholy on Mumbai Indians as he sent explosive batsman Kieron Pollard to the pavilion and placed Rajasthan in the commanding position.
Pacer Siddharth Trivedi’s delivery ended Rohit Sharma's dream run, who could score just 2 runs before suffering a catch by Shane Watson at mid wicket. Rajasthan Royals spinner Ajit Chandila knocked down Mumbai Indians’ chase by dismissing Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting from the pitch in rapid succession. Chandila struck in the first over of the innings to discharge Sachin cheaply. Chandila dismissed Ponting in his next over to push Mumbai floundering at 10/2 in 2.5 overs.
Previously, Ajinkya Rahane spearheaded from the front as he scored an unbeatable 68 runs to help Rajasthan Royals put 180-run target for Mumbai Indians. Even Brad Hodge played brilliantly as he remained unbeaten on 27 off 15 balls with the aid of two sixes.
The 53-run magnificent stand by Rahane and Hodge for the fourth wicket empowered Rajasthan to score a whopping 179/3 in 20 overs. Hodge struck a six on the first ball of the last over followed by three fours from Rahane's batting as Mumbai bowler Mitchell Johnson granted 19 runs.
Harbhajan Singh struck to award Mumbai Indians a massive breakthrough as he cracked the second wicket stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Dishant Yagnik. Bowling change worked for the visitors when Harbhajan Singh was ushered back into the attack and he sent away Yagnik who was abruptly caught by Sachin Tendulkar at fine leg.
With this match, Rajasthan Royals carved a niche at the top of the IPL table. They have clinched eight points with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad but having played one game less.
