Clinical Mumbai's sixth straight win gives them top position and knocks out Royals

Mumbai Indians (MI) came into this game having never won in Jaipur since 2012. They must not have liked that very much because first, they posted the joint-highest IPL total at this ground, then trounced Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 100 runs and finally got back up on their perch on top of the points table. RR, meanwhile, were knocked out of the playoffs race.

The first three overs were eerily quiet. Just 16 runs came off them and Rohit Sharma survived an lbw dismissal thanks to a very late call for DRS. "Ooooooh YESSSS," he said, throwing his head back and smiling as he saw green instead of red on ball-tracking.

A switch must have flicked because the last three overs of the powerplay went for 42. Rohit's runs were almost secondary to the way he was batting. He figured out what Jofra Archer was trying to do with both his boundary riders on the leg side. Bowl straight. So he made room and immediately a ball on top of leg stump became cuttable. He cut it for four.

RR tried taking pace off but Maheesh Theekshana and Fazalhaq Farooqi were both too full. Once again, Rohit moved to leg and opened up unguarded parts of the off side. Clear methods. Lovely timing. Smooth progress. He went past 6000 runs for MI.

At the other end, RR tried to take away Ryan Rickelton's arms, cramping him with their lines. But he one-upped them with his short-arm pulls. Then they tried their slower balls into the pitch, but the batter held his shape nicely and swung through. He was being asked to hit to the long leg-side boundary. He took up the challenge and cleared it. Rickelton made 34 of his first 51 runs on the leg side in just nine balls.

The opening partnership broke at a good time for MI because it still left 8.1 overs for Suryakumar Yadav to have an influence. His team had set him up - 116 runs were already on the board - so he wasted no time. Suryakumar attacked six of the first seven balls he faced. The one he didn't was one he couldn't. It was wide, a mistake that he invites from the bowlers as they try to keep it off his hitting arc.

Suryakumar finished with 48 not out, an IPL record considering it was his 11 consecutive score of 25 or more. In an innings full of intent - he tried to hit a boundary off every other ball he faced - 13 attempts in 23 deliveries - there was always going to be jaw-dropping moments and one of those happened in the 19th over when he nailed a full-speed Archer attempted yorker which became a full toss for four over short fine. He was rolling around on the floor, bat out of his hands, but he had done the job.

Hardik Pandya was just as destructive. His methods involve staying deep in the crease and exploiting the balls that miss the blockhole. He hit Farooqi for three fours and a six in the 18th over, over the course of a third-wicket partnership that yielded 94 runs in 44 balls. This was the first time four MI batters had made 40-plus in the same innings in the IPL.

Cricket had the chance to avoid a cliche tonight. But it didn't even try. The last time RR had to chase down a 200-plus total, IPL history was made with 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi scoring a 35-ball century. Here, the first time he goes for a big shot, he got out for a duck. This game just can't help but be a leveller.

A measure of the lasting impact of that innings was the Jaipur crowd having their hands on their heads and the MI coach punching the air in the dugout. Men celebrating a boy's downfall but he is no ordinary boy.

Trent Boult began his work getting hit for sixes. It didn't faze him. He has 115 games' worth of experience and 68 distinct moments that prove just how good he is with the new ball in the IPL. He added Yashasvi Jaiswal to his ever-growing list of powerplay wickets and enjoyed it so much he indulged in a one-handed, finger-gun send-off.

At the other end, Jasprit Bumrah came on and peppered Riyan Parag with bouncers. When the batter tried to take him on, he couldn't get his hands high enough to control the pull shot. Even as the ball was still up in the air, Parag shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "did I even have a chance?" Bumrah bowled nine short balls and conceded just one run.

This was the third time this season that MI had picked up four or more wickets in the first six overs. (KKR home, SRH away, RR away). They had only taken five in their other eight games.

RR came out of the field restrictions with a score of 47 for 5. At the timeout, Hardik stood in the middle of an MI huddle and some amateur lip-reading was enough to see him say "finish them". His bowlers took those words to heart. RR were bowled out for 117 in 16.1 overs. Archer was their top-scorer and their highest partnership came for the 10th wicket.