Gowtham conquers Jaipur! Short outside off, and the batsman stays on the back foot to pull it towards the leg side. Off the bat's sweet spot and the ball soars over the mid-wicket boundary. Royals win by three wickets
MI vs RR, 21st match at Jaipur, Apr 22 2018 - Match Result
RR won by 3 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)
12.10am That's it from all of us at ESPNcricinfo. Hope you enjoyed the weekend's action. We'll see you tomorrow evening for match 22: between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. Till then, this is Sreshth Shah, signing off on behalf of the rest of our crew. Adios.
12.04am Oh, man. What a game of cricket. The unlikeliest of candidates with the bat wins it for Rajasthan Royals. Six boundary-shots from K Gowtham as he makes 33 off 11 balls. That's the difference between both sides as Mumbai lose their fourth game. Archer, Tripathi, and the rest come running out to hug the tall man, but spare a thought for Hardik Pandya. He walks away, alone, knowing fully well he didn't bowl that final over well. Stick around for the presentation.
Jofra Archer, the IPL debutant, is the Man of the Match. Says: "It's good to be back in the park. We just wanted to restrict them. Stokesy and I had a chat, saying we had to pull things back. The chase was a bit nervy, but I knew with our dug-out talent we're gonna complete it easy. The heartbeat is still pumping."
Ajinkya Rahane, the winning captain: "Still can't believe what happened. The way KG and Sanju batted, wow, but credit to our bowlers to pull it back. I thought Mumbai would make 180-190, but still KG's knock was unbelievable. During the time-out, we wanted to take it deep, because we knew we had Jos, Ben, Klaasen. Rahul (Tripathi) batted well at the top last year, so we were just thinking about the combination. I think we'll continue with that. Archer's fantastic. Happy to see him back. The way he bowled in the middle-overs was incredible. Jofra can bowl 140+ and his accuracy was fantastic. He's always thinking about wickets and that's the way to go."
Diwakar: "MI have lost the match twice this season that they were almost winning and both the times their former player made that happen. Bravo against CSK and now K Gowtham against RR." -- Isn't everyone ex Mumbai Indians though? :P
Jayaprakash: "When MI lost their first 3 close matches many experts weren't really concerned. But, seeing as the trend seems to continue - there is just something not quite right with MI. will be surprised if they make the playoffs now"
Sasi Kanth: "If a team is not able to win the pressure moments of the game consistently, the leadership group needs to have a hard look in the mirror. Are they creating the right environment for their players to back their skills and enjoy the moment?"
Akshaye: "Samson's words show what a humble and modestcharacter he is, a marked difference from the other player from Kerala who played for Royals, the fast bowler who led to them being banned.."
Manish : "I would like to challenge India cricket team with these young lads. My young India XI K rahul (c), Ishan K, Sanju S, Rana, Rishabh P (wk), Krunal P, Gowtham, Martande, s kaul, tewatia, chahar."
Naman: "Rohit's speeches this season.. "We were 10-15 runs short... Credit goes to opponent team...""
Gowtham, the man of the moment: "On top of the world, had a decent first-class season with the bat. My captain said 'believe', and that's what I did. No nerves on turning the single down. Just needed six off three balls, one good hit, that's all I was thinking."
Rial: "K for Karthik in Nidhas and now K for Krishnappa. Remember the K"
Pratik Suhas De: "Poor captaincy by Rohit. Bowlers and the captain were not in sync at all. Short/wide Yorker with no third man/fine leg! How does that make sense?!"
Samson, the orange-cap holder: "How many runs one makes, it's the person who hits the winning runs that matters. Very happy for Gowtham. Happy that we won, because otherwise getting the orange cap by losing means nothing."
Jai: "Feel as though this is the toughest loss for Mumbai this season so far. Were in a good winning position until the last three overs. They have a talented pace attack, but there's definitely a piece missing in their attack.."
Rohit Sharma, the losing captain Not easy to digest. Especially, towards the end we were in the game, but credit to them. Not easy to score 10-per-over on this surface. Not making 180-190 hurt us. We didn't capitalise on the start we got. It's the second or third time we've done this. We've addressed this before, but need to improve. We needed to be smarter on where we should've hit the ball, but credit to their bowlers. Not easy to lose close games, and that's why I've not been too critical of our bowlers. They have pulled things back often, but our batting wasn't good. Twenty more runs would've been enough.
Six off three now.... both camps are nervous.
overpitched on off stump, and that's been drilled to cover. Unadkat's halfway down the wicket, but Gowtham sends him back. Will this hurt Royals?
Royals need six off four balls. Massive conference happening in the middle, between Rohit and the Pandya bros. Ajinkya Rahane looks super nervous.
ramped over short third man! It's full outside off, and Gowtham gets down on one knee, opens the bat's face, and sends it over the infield. The Royals camp erupts!
Abhinav: "Feels like a super over is on the cards!!" -- Ten needed off five balls
goes short outside off, and Archer's pull takes the top edge! Hardik gets under it, and manages to keep his composure
Royals need 10 off the final over - what a crazy Sunday of cricket, eh? Hardik to bowl the final over.
full on off stump, and Gowtham's leg-side heave comes off the bat's inside edge. That means the shot goes behind square, and that means into the gap. Finds the backward square boundary. Eighteen off the over
takes the pace off! Full, and super slow outside off. Gowtham tries to slog this over Bumrah's head, and ends up missing completely
Royals need 14 off eight balls
slapped with disdain! Good length, but wide enough outside off to cut it furiously hard. Gowtham winds up and then pumps this past backward point
Royals need 18 off nine balls
full toss on leg stump, and he's cramped for room. Hits his bat and trickles away towards mid-wicket. No one there, so that means Archer asks Gowtham to come for the second
free hit
slower ball full outside off, and that's been crunched over the non-striker's head. Pollard's there in the deep, but oh dear, it's a no-ball!
Royals need 22 off 10 balls
full on off stump, and that's been smothered off his pads to wide long on. Chase for Pollard in the deep
good length outside off, and Archer has the power to slap this very square! Played wide enough of deep extra cover, and the outfielder can't pull it back
Saurabh: "I think the trouble with RR is that they didn't do a good job at the auction. Despite having a talented wicket-keeper in Samson, they threw money on 2 overseas wicket-keepers. Could have had more balance in the team." -- Buttler and Samson are poles apart, btw, but yeah, the Klaasen buy didn't make sense to me. They could've gone for Ronchi or someone else to replace Smith
full outside off, and the drive finds the bat's toe end. Flies past Kishan's right and through to the third-man boundary. The equation: 28 runs off 12 balls
good length on middle stump, and in his arc. Backs away and muscles this towards the leg side. Enough behind that shot to take it beyond long on. Rohit's not happy
good length on off, and angling away from Gowtham. He tries to slog it over cover, but sliced over the infield. Lands in no man's land
Vageesan: "Archer - Not a penny more Not a penny less"
holes out and long on, but it's a free hit. Full toss on leg stump, and thumped over Fizz's head
awry! Super-high full toss outside off, and goes to Kishan on the full! Passed Archer from over his head. Fizz apologises right away
good length on middle stump, but the extra bounce doesn't bother the tall Gowtham. Flat-batted over Fizz's head to Pollard at long on
Rajasthan need 43 off 17 balls
diving catch from Kishan! Angling away from Klaasen, and he tries to punch away from his body. The offcutter goees across Klaasen, and therefore takes the outside edge. Kishan's forced to dive diagonally forward but he's safe with the gloves. Three wickets in six balls...
yorker on off stump, and that's been dug back to Bumrah. He's forced to stick his hand up and the ball sticks! Excellent over
yorker just outside off stump, and Archer can't carve this away. Bounces behind the stumps and goes through to Kishan's gloves. This is classic Bumrah
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur | |
Toss | Mumbai Indians, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2018 |
Player Of The Match | |
Hours of play (local time) | 20.00 start, First Session 20.00-21.30, Interval 21.30-21.50, Second Session 21.50- 23.20 |
Match days | 22 April 2018 - night (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee | |
Points | Rajasthan Royals 2, Mumbai Indians 0 |
Over 20 • RR 168/7