CHENNAI: Pacer Sandeep Sharma took 5/18 as Rajasthan Royals restricted Mumbai Indians to 179/9 in Jaipur on Monday.
Opting to bat first, Mumbai did not have the perfect of starts. They first lost Rohit Sharma on the fifth ball of the match, a leading edge off Trent Boult went up and Sanju Samson did the rest. Then, Ishan Kishan nicked one behind in the next over from Sandeep Sharma. With the Punjab pacer removing Suryakumar Yadav in his next over, MI was in trouble, losing three wickets in 2.1 overs.
Over the next couple of overs, RR kept it quiet, but when Avesh Khan came on Mohammad Nabi hit him for a six and two fours as MI finished the powerplay with 45/3 on board. R Ashwin delivered a boundary-less over, but it was Yuzvendra Chahal who reaped rewards, removing Nabi for 23 runs from 17 balls.
From thereon, it was down to Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera to revive the innings. The young duo took time to build a partnership while picking up occasional boundaries. Tilak put the foot on the accelerator in the 12th over, hitting two fours of Chahal while Wadhera cut loose against Avesh. The pacer was once again at the receiving end of the onslaught, conceding 19 runs in the 13th over.
With the duo smashing Chahal for three sixes, it looked like MI's innings was back on track, thanks to Tilak's half-century. Wadhera, however, was not so lucky as he got out on 49 from 24 balls to Boult. Hardik Pandya's poor run continued as he fell for a run-a-ball ten. Tilak got out shortly after for 65 runs from 45 balls to Sandeep, who would pick three more wickets in the final over. MI eventually finished with 179/9 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: MI 179/9 in 20 ovs (Tilak 65, Nehal 49; Sandeep )vs RR.