de Kock propels Mumbai to 161/5 vs Rajasthan

Opener Quinton de Kock's scintillating 65-run knock helped Mumbai Indians put up 161/5 against Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Saturday.

Apart from de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav chipped in with a valuable 34 for Mumbai while Shreyas Gopal once again starred with the ball after conceding just 21 runs from his four overs besides picking up two wickets.

Put into bat, the visitors received an early jolt as Gopal dismissed Rohit Sharma (5) in the third over. However, de Kock was then joined by Yadav and the duo denied the hosts from making any further inroads in the Mumbai batting line-up as their sensible play helped their side cross the 50-run mark in 6.4 overs.

The duo were involved in a crucial 97-run partnership and enroute de Kock also notched up his half-century before Stuart Binny finally came up with a breakthrough for the home side. A top-edge from Yadav off a Binny delivery went straight to deep backward square and Dhawal Kulkarni took a fine catch to break the partnership.

With the addition of just three runs in Mumbai's scorecard, Gopal claimed his second wicket as de Kock decided to take on his googly but miscued it, handing a catch to Ben Stokes at long-on.

Jaydev Unadkat then sent back Kieron Pollard, who fell cheaply after managing to contribute just seven runs with Mumbai's scorecard reading 124/4.

Hardik Pandya once again played a 15-ball 23 run cameo while Ben Cutting chipped in with 13 runs as Mumbai reached a fighting total.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 161/5 (Quinton de Kock 65, Suryakumar Yadav 34; Shreyas Gopal 2/21) vs Rajasthan Royals

--IANS

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