Rajasthan Royals overpower Mumbai Indians by five wickets

Rajasthan Royals defeated Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the ongoing Indian Premier League here on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 162, Rajasthan got off to a steady start and the openers, Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson, formed a 39-run partnership which was broken by Rahul Chahar as he took the wicket of Rahane.

Then Steve Smith, who took the charge of captaincy for Rajasthan, came out to bat. Samson scored 35 runs off just 19 deliveries before Chahar got hold of Samson and sent him back to the pavilion.

In the same over, Chahar again showed his magic and sent Ben Stokes to the pavilion on duck.

Riyan Parag then came out to bat and formed a prodigious 70-run partnership with the skipper providing Rajasthan their much-needed momentum.

Smith led the inning from the front and scored effulgent 59 runs off 48 balls and help his side chase the target with five balls to spare and with five wickets in hand.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians were sent to bat first and Rajasthan Royals got a very quick breakthrough in the name of Rohit Sharma, who was sent back to the pavilion by Shreyas Gopal.

Suryakumar Yadav then joined the on-field batter Quinton de Kock and both played some stunning shots and stitched a 97-run partnership.

Yadav's inning was brought to an end by Stuart Binny whereas De Kock was sent back by Gopal.

Mumbai Indians were able to put up a decent total thanks to the poor fielding displayed by Rajasthan.

Also, Archer dropped three catches, one of De Kock and two catches of Hardik Pandya. Later Archer took the wicket of destructive Pandya, which may have had brought some relief to the 24-year old pacer.

After the allotted 20 overs, Mumbai Indians set a target of 162 for the hosts.

Mumbai Indians will now visit Chennai to face the top positioned Chennai Super Kings on April 26 while Rajasthan Royals will host Delhi Capitals on April 22.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals (Steve Smith- 59, Riyan Parag- 43, Rahul Chahar 3/29) defeated Mumbai Indians (Quinton de Kock- 65, Suryakumar Yadav 34, Shreyas Gopal 2/21) by five wickets.