As it happened: IPL 2022 - Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, DY Patil Stadium

Rajasthan Royals 193 for 8 (Buttler 100, Hetmyer 35, Bumrah 3-17) beat Mumbai Indians 180 for 8 (Varma 61, Kishan 54, Chahal 2-26, Ashwin 1-30) by 23 runs

Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin exhibited their mastery at a pivotal moment to ensure they defended successfully a score set up by Jos Buttler’s incredible 68-ball century. This meant a second straight win for the Rajasthan Royals and a second straight setback for Mumbai Indians, known to be slow starters.

It is one Mumbai would be particularly disappointed with because they were in control of the chase going into the last six overs, after Ishan Kishan and Tilak Verma hit half-centuries to leave them needing 65 off 36 with seven wickets in the shed. From there on, the Royals lost 3 for 2 over the next seven balls against spin as the chase derailed.

Kieron Pollard kept hopes alive by biffing a few blows to keep the game alive, but an excellent penultimate over that went for just 10 - no boundary was conceded - left Mumbai needing 29 off the final over. Mumbai just found one boundary as Pollard kept finding the fielders, before the match ended with Buttler fittingly taking a catch to remove Pollard as Mumbai fell short by 23 runs.

From 39 off 12, it's down to 29 off the final over. Prasidh bowled a series of wides and then a no-ball to the end, but the key is he didn't concede a single boundary. Saini, meanwhile, is back to bowl the final over.

The hat-trick ball was a thick edge that flew to substitute Karun Nair's left. He was wrong-footed when he went fort it, but couldn't hold on. M Ashwin reprieved, anguish for Chahal. Phew, so so close.

First Tilak Verma, next Tim David.

Varma's in particular elicited a send-off from Ashwin, who only a ball earlier was reverse-swept for six.

David's was a proper set-up. Chahal with a slider that fizzed through and once he decided to play across the line, he was a dead duck. Given out on the field, DRS came back to indicate "umpire's call." Then off his very first ball, Sams heaves a wrong'un into the night sky with Buttler, running backwards from midwicket, pulling off a blinder. Three wickets in seven balls

In taking a screamer at deep square leg to remove Ishan Kishan, Saini hit his head into the turf and is need of medical attention. He is off the field, with Neesham replacing him as the substitute. With seven overs left, this has left Royals without a death bowler. If Saini is ruled out and the match referee allows a concussion replacement, Kuldeep Sen, the Madhya Pradesh right-arm fast bowler, who is doing some warm-ups besides the ropes alongside bowling coach Malinga, could come in as a concussion replacement. Otherwise, they will have to make do with overs from Riyan Parag. All said, it's advantage Mumbai Indians.

Kishan on 41 gets a reprieve. Jaiswal at deep midwicket nearly ran 20-25 yards to his left, closer to where a deep square would be, before putting in a full length dive to nearly pull off a grab. But as his elbows hit the turf, the impact had the ball pop out of his grasp. Ashwin can't believe his luck. Mumbai need 93 off 54.

We're down to the last 10 overs with Mumbai Indians needing 100. Kishan has mellowed his game a touch after a roaring start, perhaps mindful of batting through. Tilak Verma, the 19-year old from Hyderabad, has been the aggressor in this partnership.

He has just raised the half-century of the partnership with a massive heave off Chahal. Otherwise, Tilak has largely been elegance personified so far, playing some punchy drives in his short knock. The shot of the evening was his lofted hit down the ground for six off Saini.

The only reason why Samson has kept four overs from Chahal and Ashwin in the second half is because dew ain't a factor tonight. And from what we've seen so far, these two have looked to milk runs against spin without overly taking risks. It's a fine cat and mouse game this.

The impetus will have to be given by Ishan Kishan, who is coming off an unbeaten 81 in the opening game against Delhi Capitals. Here, after seeing off two overs off Boult, he welcomes Saini with a wallop for six over fine leg. He follows that up with a thump down the ground for four, only to be told it's a no-ball. The free hit too is belted down the ground. He strongly finishes the over with the wicket of Anmolpreet, who tamely lobs one to extra cover.

Without any dew to speak of, this length ball got stuck into the pitch. Amnolpreet had committed to hitting him on the up but got it high on the bat as Parikkal completed a simple catch.

In failing to finish off the innings on a high, Royals have lost a bit of momentum even though they've finished with a formidable total.

"Not sure if it's a good score or not, especially with the short boundary on one side," says Buttler. "At the start of the day if you'd told us we'd get 194, we would've taken it though."

March 26: 3.2-0-43-0. Bumrah is off-colour, far from his threatening best. Batter after batter swings clean. Edges fly. Big hits land over the ropes. Bumrah has hands on head. He came under Axar and Lalit Yadav's wheel.

April 2: 4-0-17-3 Wickets of Jaiswal, Hetmyer, Buttler. Begins with a toe-crusher to Buttler, ends with a yorker to Buttler. In between, he hit the hard lengths, troubled batters with bounce and got the ball to move both ways. Proves the opening-game horror was an aberration.

But the deflection is off an inside edge. And that means he's IPL 2022's first centurion. This one has come off just 66 balls. As he walked across, Buttler didn't spontaneously raise his bat. This may have led to Mumbai taking a chance with the review. But no sooner than the replays flashed on the giant screen, Buttler yanked his helmet out and raised his bat to the dugout and the fans. Terrific knock. Three balls later, Bumrah bowls a ripper of a yorker that beats Buttler's swing and crashes into the stumps.

Third IPL team for Shimron Hetmyer and his association with the Royals couldn't have begun on a more auspicious note. Three nights ago, he came in to bat at the 15-over mark and went bang bang to hit a 13-ball 32. Today, he comes out to bat in a similar position in the 15th, and has started teeing off from get go. Facing the wrath of Hetmyer's muscle is his West Indies limited-overs skipper Kieron Pollard. Pollard only needed to make up three of the overs, but the fourth has gone for plenty.

Until the fourth, he had figures of 3-0-20-1. That wicket was the massive scalp of Samson after an 82-run stand. Now, it reads 4-0-46-1. The thin line between excellent and ordinary.

One of the things about Samson's six-hitting is how he maintains a superb sync between aesthetics and timing. He never appears to clobber the ball, yer clears ropes effortlessly. He hasn't allowed Daniel Sams to settle in.

When he has bowled short, Samson has been ready with the pull. When he has bowled length and across, Samson's trigger has him set up around fourth stump. And from there if the ball is full, he's close enough to the pitch to loft over cover. If it's short, he's quickly in position to pull.

Buttler vs MI: 6(8), 94*(53), 89(43), 70(44), 41(32)
Before today: 300 runs in five innings, average 75.00 Strike Rate 166.67

He's looking to get close to 400, maybe even beyond, today.

He brings it up with two back-to-back fours off Daniel Sams. The first of those was scythed behind point. The next was nicely glided fine between 'keeper and short third. Buttler hasn't based his game on blind slogging. He has been watchful, but hasn't failed to put away bad deliveries. Now for him to carry on along with Samson from a Royals point of view.

Eight overs in, Rohit is perhaps already looking at possible ways to cover up the three overs of Basil Thampi. One of those has been bowled quietly by Kieron Pollard. In the power play, Thampi's economy and average is easily the worst among bowlers to have bowled 20 or more overs

In his very first over, Tymal Mills has found the ingredients that's causing a bit of discomfort for the batters. Where Thampi went full, Mills stuck to the hard lengths. One such delivery that cramps Parikkal's attempted step-out-and-wallop results in a wicket as the slice lands in Rohit's hands at extra cover. It's 48 for 2.

After being circumspect off Bumrah, who tested him with both deliveries - ones that nip in and others that hold their line - Buttler decides to break the shackles. Basil Thampi's first over, the fourth of the innings, is a forgettable one. Buttler's batting mantra for the over: See ball, clear front-leg, wallop.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was reprieved after M Ashwin failed to hit direct at the striker's end off an under-arm lob. Jaiswal wasn't even in the frame after a bit of hesitation. Off the next delivery, he chips a Bumrah delivery straight to square leg. The Royals have decided to keep the right-left combination intact with Devdutt Parikkal, who batted at No. 4 in the first game, coming in one down in the third over.

Unchanged Mumbai Indians opt to bowl. A "fit" Suryakumar Yadav continues to sit out. One change for the Royals: Navdeep Saini comes in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma(capt), 2 Ishan Kishan(wk), 3 Anmolpreet Singh, 4 N Tilak Varma, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 M Ashwin, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Tymal Mills, 11 Basil Thampi

In the absence of Coulter-Nile, Royals' batting looks light, with Riyan Parag at No.6 and R Ashwin at No.7. Then they have four bowlers to follow.

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson(capt, wk), 4 Devdutt Padikkal, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Think Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals and two contests come to mind immediately. The first is from 2010 when Yusuf Pathan muscled nine fours and eight sixes in a 41-ball century with the Royals falling agonisingly short. The next one's from 2014 when Corey Anderson announced himself to the world, before Aditya Tare let Indian cricket sit up and take note as Mumbai pulled off the impossible. Any other game that comes to mind for you guys?