IPL 2018, RR vs MI: 5 reasons why Mumbai lost

The second game of today’s doubleheader had the Ajinkya Rahane led Rajasthan Royals taking on the Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur. Rohit won the toss and decided to bat first.

Mumbai got off to a bad start as Evin Lewis departed for a duck but thereafter the dynamic duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan displayed some brilliant strokeplay to power Mumbai to 130/1 by the 14 overs.

However, Rajasthan’s bowlers made a stellar comeback and Mumbai were restricted to a score of 167.

In reply, Rajasthan got off to a poor start but an excellent partnership between Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson stabilized their innings. Some poor batting thereafter eventually brought the equation down to 43 needed in the last 3 overs.

K Gowtham then played the innings of his life to bring the Royals home with 2 balls to spare. Let us have a look why the 3-time champions Mumbai lost the game.

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#1 Failure to finish off the innings

Today’s game had a similar script to the Mumbai-Delhi game where the Mumbai Indians failed to make use of an excellent start. Today as well, after a superb start from Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, Mumbai’s middle order crumbled.

Mumbai looked all set to score well in excess of 200, but a flurry of wickets at the end made sure that they could only manage a below par 167.

In fact, Mumbai could only score 37 runs off the last 35 balls of their innings, losing 6 wickets in the process. This collapse had a major say in the final result of the game.

#2 Jofra Archer’s dream debut

A lot of hype had been created around Jofra Archer who had impressed everyone in the Big Bash League. However, a side strain had forced him out of the starting games for the Rajasthan Royals.

Archer was right on the money today from the word go, consistently bowling in excess of 140 kph. His pacy yorkers and slower deliveries strangled the Mumbai batsmen, who struggled to score runs off him.

Archer delivered a dream penultimate over, picking 3 big wickets and giving away just 5 runs in the process. Archer gave Royals' fans a glimpse of what all they had missed till now.

#3 Gowtham’s stunning assault

K Gowtham came to the crease with the Rajasthan Royals in a desperate need of a miracle. With 43 needed off 17 balls, Gowtham got himself going by belting the frugal Mustafizur for a four and a six. He then smashed Jasprit Bumrah for a couple of boundaries in the next over.

With 10 needed off 5 balls, Gowtham ramped Pandya for a four over the short third man. He was so confident of his striking abilities that he even refused to take the single next ball. The next ball was deposited o for a massive six and the Mumbai attack were left in disbelief of what had hit them.

#4 Bumrah loses his nerve, again

Jasprit Bumrah came into the tournament as one of the best bowlers in the death overs. However, his reputation has taken a lot of battering over the past fortnight. Firstly, he was taken to the cleaners by Dwayne Bravo in the opening game and today Gowtham and Archer got stuck into him.

After bowling a stupendous 17th over, Bumrah lost his nerve with 28 needed off 12 balls. He struggled with his line and length and was smashed for a couple of boundaries through the point region. To add to that, he even overstepped in the penultimate over. Bumrah’s 18-run over eventually cost Mumbai Indians the game.

#5 Samson-Stokes partnership

Rajasthan got off to a sedate start, scoring just 43 runs off the powerplay overs and losing their openers in the process. This brought the duo of Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes to the crease.

Both took their time in the beginning, taking ones and twos to get the scoreboard ticking. Once set, both of them decided to launch into the Mumbai attack. Stokes showed a glimpse of what all he can do by smashing the kiwi McClenaghan for a six and a four.

Their 72-run partnership stabilized Rajasthan’s innings and provided the perfect platform for the big hitters to launch.

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