On Mumbai Indians' historic night, Rajasthan Royals spoiled the party as they ended Mumbai Indians' three-game winning streak in IPL 2019. Despite a 52-ball 81 from Quinton de Kock, it needed a Hardik Pandya cameo to get MI to 187/5. In response, Jos Buttler's 42-ball 89 guided RR home with fours wickets and three balls to spare despite a late wobble.
Here are the major talking points from RR's win over MI:
MI middle muddle
The story of MI's season so far has been their incredible ability to finish with a flourish, both with the bat and the ball. They have come out and won games they had no right to win because of their ability to hold their nerve at the end.
The other common feature of their season has been the fact that they inexplicably slow down in the middle overs. That happened once again against RR, which ended up costing them the game.
After 10 overs, MI were cruising at 92/0. The next six overs saw them score just 43 runs and lose two wickets as well. And it needed a 11-ball 28 from Hardik to help get them to 187 when they looked on track for a total in excess of 200.
While good finishing will always be crucial, putting too much pressure on the lower middle-order and giving them too much to do isn't the best recipe for success.
The chase master delivers once again
Ever since he was promoted to open the innings for RR, Buttler hasn't looked back. And he has taken that to another level when he is chasing.
So far in IPL 2019, he has three fifties in four innings while batting second. In the first game against KXIP, his 43-ball 69 set them on track before a middle-order collapse cost them the win.
RR's only other win this season, came when he scored 59 against RCB. Against MI, he started uncharacteristically slowly as Ajinkya Rahane took the attack to the bowlers early.
Once the RR skipper departed, Buttler exploded and he was especially brutal on Alzarri Joseph, who he smashed for 28 runs, the second-most expensive over in this year's IPL. Eventually, he was dismissed 11 shy of a well-deserved century but he had done the job once again for RR in a run chase.
Recency bias costing MI
With Lasith Malinga going to Sri Lanka, MI needed an overseas pacer to fill in for him. Alzarri Joseph did that brilliantly against SRH, where he finished with the best figures in IPL history (6/12). But he has flattered to deceive ever since then.
On a Hyderabad pitch that offered something for the seamers, the West Indian pacer got off to the perfect start. But since then, his five overs across two games have cost 75 runs and he has failed to pick up a wicket.
In this game, his 28-run over changed the complexion of the game and despite a late fightback by MI's bowlers, they couldn't quite make it four wins in a row.
With Malinga available upon his return, the decision to go with Joseph, who neither has Malinga's experience nor ability to bowl at the death made the difference in a close game like this one.
However, Joseph's injury late in the game might make MI's decision for them in the next encounter.