CHENNAI: WHILE Mumbai Indians’ first home game of the season was on the radar for various reasons, on the field, it was always going to be about one key contest within the contest: Trent Boult versus Mumbai Indians’ top-order batters.
Boult, after all, is one of the best new-ball bowlers in the world. The left-arm pacer has taken 55 powerplay wickets in the Indian Premier League in 91 innings. That is one wicket in the first six overs for every 23 balls he bowls.
On Monday at the Wankhede Stadium, it took only five for him to open his account. Rohit Sharma, who has gotten out nine times to left-arm pace in the powerplay, nicked a perfect outswinger on his first delivery. If that was not enough, Naman Dhir, the No. 3, was trapped on the pads in the final delivery of the first over. Another first ball duck, with the hosts 1/2.
More than the mixed reactions — sections of crowd booing significantly — he got at the toss, Hardik Pandya would have been more worried looking at the scoreboard. However, worse was to come. While Ishan Kishan faced the next seven deliveries, Dewald Brevis, the quickest Impact Player substitute in the history of the league, pushed at a wide delivery from Boult and was caught at short third-man. The smiling assassin was having the kind of day where nothing could go wrong. Two overs, four runs, three wickets.
Feeling a bit of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) at the other end, Nandre Burger, the other left-arm pacer, joined the party, sending back Ishan Kishan. With four wickets gone, Pandya, once again, walked in to a big boo from the crowd. None of this should come as a surprise though. It is the venue where Virat Kohli was booed in the past. Heck, even the greatest the city has produced — Sachin Tendulkar — was once booed in a Test during the pre-IPL era.
Pandya, seemingly calm despite all the noise, crunched Burger over point and then through covers to pick up consecutive boundaries. The cheers followed as Tilak Varma, at the other end, went after Avesh Khan as MI slowly moved to 59/4 after seven overs. By that time both Boult and Burger had completed three overs each. Boult — 14/3 and Burger 31/1. The stage was set for Pandya to write his redemption story with Mumbai Indians.
It seemed like he might as well with a late cut against Yuzvendra Chahal, and another through cover against R Ashwin. However, Chahal had other ideas, sending back Pandya for 34 runs. Chahal took two more (3/11) before Boult came back and finished with 22/3 in four overs. Burger bowled the 19th over, dismissing Tim David as MI posted 125/9. In reply, Riyan Parag scored an unbeaten fifty, taking RR to a six-wicket victory. As a result, Royals go to top of the points table.
At a venue where runs are scored for fun, where MI have a W/L ratio of 1.7, Boult and Burger played the oldest trick there is before Chahal took over.
Brief scores: MI 125/9 in 20 ovs (Pandya 34; Boult 3/22, Chahal 3/11) vs RR 127/4 in 15.3 ovs (Parag 54 n.o; Akash 3/20).