MI vs RR, 14th Match at Mumbai, IPL, Apr 01 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

11.25pm So, that's three wins in three for Rajasthan Royals. But even a return to their home ground could not help Mumbai Indians avoid defeat for the third consecutive game. There were some boos for Hardik, several cheers for Rohit, but it was the Royals bowlers who stole the show. Trent Boult was sublime with the new ball, with two wickets in the first over. Mumbai lost three players for golden ducks thanks to the left-arm quick. Nandre Burger was also great with the new ball as Royals dominated the powerplay. Chahal helped take out the middle order and that left Royals chasing 126. Maphaka started with Jaiswal's wicket in the first over and Bumrah bowled a probing spell without luck, but Akash Madhwal's two strikes just around the end of the powerplay gave Mumbai Indians a sniff at an upset. But with Ashwin pushed up the order to arrest a potential collapse, Parag continued to impress as he played a calm, nerveless knock to eventually make sure Royals won without much fuss. Akash Madhwal's performance will be a rare positive for Mumbai Indians, but they know they have a lot of work to do. For Royals, they would want Buttler and Jaiswal - their gun openers - to start firing soon. While those teams ponder about what's next for them, we are going to wind down here. You can read Sreshth's report, meanwhile, for a recap of the game. Thank you for joining us. On behalf of Ekanth, Chandan and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo, this is Abhimanyu signing off. Goodnight!

11.12pm Time for the presentation ceremony, then.

The player of the match is, as expected, Trent Boult: "[First over wickets] Never say it's a certainty in the format, but it was nice to get the wickets. We created early pressure, nice to take some wickets and glad the result went our way. [On the Rohit wicket] I've played against Rohit a lot over the years and it was just about trying to do something different. It rarely comes off, you try something different and it works, but great when it does. [On Burger] He has been a great find. Bowls with great skill and plays with his heart on his sleeves. Sandeep obviously missed out but he'll play a big role in the season. Excited to be part of this bowling attack."

Rajasthan Royals captain, Sanju Samson: "[The toss] I think that was the gamechanger. The toss was very crucial. I felt it was too sticky to start off and we had the experience of Trent Boult and Nandre Burger's speed. [Boult] has been playing international cricket for so long and we expected him to deliver. I didn't expect four or five wickets down, but it was great. We all do our roles and move on. Someone like R Ashwin knew we had a good powerplay so he didn't go for wickets, just kept it tight. So it's about teamwork."

10.56pm Riyan Parag's assured innings, along with handy contributions from R Ashwin and Shubham Dubey have helped Royals seal this chase with ease. A fired up early spell from Bumrah and Madhwal saw Royals lose three wickets early-ish, but Parag marshalled the chase expertly. Of course, it was Trent Boult and Nandre Burger and the rest of their bowlers who set up the win.

Riyan Parag: "Actually, I've simplified everything instead of trying to do a lot of things. Earlier when I wasn't getting runs I would try a lot of different things. This year, it's just seeing the ball and hitting the ball. When I play domestically this is the exact kind of situations I go into bat. When Jos bhai and Ash bhai got out, I thought to myself this is what I do in domestic cricket. So that's what I calculated/ [On difference between domestic level and IPL level] I have had three-four years of not performing at all. And you really go back to the hotel room and think when you know you can do it and the results are not coming, you go back to the drawing room. I realised I wasn't practicing at this kind of level so I went and did that. I practiced these kind of quick balls and these kind of scenarios a lot and hence the performances."

Hardik Pandya: "We didn't start the way we wanted to, tough night tonight. [On his innings] I think we were in a decent position to give us a chance to get to 150 or 160 but I think my wicket changed the game and brought them more in the game and I think I could have done better. [The pitch] It's good to have something for the bowlers as well. The game is quite cruel to the bowlers. But it was unexpected. It's all about doing the right things. Results, sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't. I don't think much surprises me anymore. But as a group we believe we can pull off a lot of better things going forward and we just need to be more disciplined and show more courage."

Gaurav: "Does Parag get the Orange Cap, or it remains with Kohli?" Parag has it now, thanks to a better strike rate than Virat Kohli.

Mohan: "MI need to replace Maphaka and Coetzee with Nuvan Thusara and Nabi as their overseas players to make squad stronger."

Arjun: "Two things happened in the last ball of the innings. Coetzee bowled the fastest ball of this IPL at 157 kph and Riyan Parag got 4 runs to get the Orange Cap. " The latter is correct. The former was a glitch! That was at around 141kph, not 157, even though the TV did show it at 157!

Five overs to go. No Bumrah, no Madhwal. Chawla has just one over left. Who will bowl this one? Coetzee it is

Mahesh: "Selection of shots by Parag is massive improvement over the last few years"

Chawla to continue

Around the wicket to the left-handed Dubey

Romya: "You can do it MI... just 2 wkts more...."

And here comes Boom for his final over!

Madhwal completes an excellent spell with figures of 3-20

Still no Hetmyer. Debutant Shubham Dubey, RR's impact player, is on. Does this game still have some life in it?

Madhwal for his fourth over