IPL 2019: Steven Smith's steady knock takes Rajasthan Royals to 5-wicket win over Mumbai Indians 

Rajasthan Royals defeated Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the 36th match of IPL 2019 played at Sawai Man Stadium, Jaipur on Saturday. The result hasn't made a difference to the position of either team in the IPL points table, but it has given the victors a slender hope of qualifying for the playoffs.

RR's newly appointed captain Steve Smith won the toss and decided to field first. It was a perfect start for the hosts as Shreyas Gopal dismissed Rohit Sharma cheaply for 5 runs.

Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock then steadied the Mumbai Indians innings with some good attacking stroke play. At the end of six overs, MI were 46 for 1.

After the powerplay overs, Yadav and De Kock made batting look easy and kept the scoreboard ticking. De Kock reached his fifty off just 34 balls.

Stuart Binny broke the dangerous partnership of 97 runs for the 2nd wicket by dismissing Yadav for 34. In next over, Gopal struck by dismissing the dangerous De Kock for 65.

Hardik Pandya played a quick cameo, scoring 23 off 15 balls to help Mumbai Indians post 161 for 5.

Chasing the target of 162, Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson got the team off to a flying start, adding 39 runs for opening wicket. Rahul Chahar got the breakthrough by dismissing Rahane for 12.

But Samson continued playing aggressively, which put the MI bowlers under pressure. At the end of six overs, Rajasthan Royals had scored 60 for 1.

After the power playovers, Rahul Chahar struck twice by dismissing Samson and Ben Stokes to give Mumbai Indians some hope. But Smith and Riyan Parag played with positive intent, taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries, to keep the target within reach.

A brilliant run out by Ben Cutting broke the 70-run partnership for the 4th wicket, and Parag was dismissed for a well-made 43. But Smith was steady at the other end, reaching his fifty off 40 balls.

Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Ashton Turner for 0, to send a few shivers down the spines of the RR camp. But Stuart Binny hit the winning runs and Rajasthan won the match by 5 wickets with 5 balls to spare.

Brief scores: RR 162 for 5 in 19.1 overs (Steven Smith 59*, Riyan Parag 43, Rahul Chahar 3/29) beat MI 161 for 5 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 65, Suryakumar Yadav 34, Shreyas Gopal 2/21) by 5 wickets.

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