Rajasthan Royals inflicted the biggest loss over Mumbai Indians and kept their fans at home happy with a superlative performance for an 87-run win at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Batting first Rajasthan Royals posted 179 for 3 on the back of Ajinkya Rahane's unbeaten 68, before their bowlers put on a magnificent performance to rout the MI batting. The 87-run defeat was Mumbai Indians’ biggest defeat in IPL history! Needing 180 to win, MI got off to a bad start as Ajit Chandila dismissed the two legends Sachin Tendulkar (1) and Ricky Ponting (4) in quick succession.
Tendulkar fell top edging a sweep to short fine-leg while Ponting lobbed the ball straight back to Chandila attempting to work one to the leg side. Siddharth Trivedi then struck removing Rohit Sharma (2) caught by Shane Watson to have MI reeling at 26 for 3 in 6.1 overs. It only got worse for MI as Kieron Pollard (1) had his stumps in disarray attempting to drive Stuart Binny without any footwork. At the halfway stage MI were 42 for 4, still requiring 138 runs. Dinesh Karthik (30) trying to break the shackles fell caught by Brad Hodge off James Faulkner.
Wickets continued to fall as Rishi Dhawan (0) was caught at short mid-wicket. Harbhajan Singh was the next man to be dismissed; he was involved in a mix-up with Ambati Raydu, with both batsmen ending up on the same end of the pitch. Mitchell Johnson (11) and Ambati Raydu (27) fell in the space of six deliveries and MI were eventually bundled out for 92 – their second lowest total in the IPL. Earlier RR won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Watson and Rahane (68*) started off well with two boundaries off Mitchell Johnson before Watson whacked Dhawan for a six over square leg.
Rahane also came down the track and hoisted Pragyan Ojha for a six in the fifth over. Watson continued his assault with three boundaries off Lasith Malinga as RR made 58 runs in the power play. Pollard got the vital breakthrough having Watson (31) caught behind. Rahul Dravid sprang a surprise when he had Dishant Yagnik bat up the order; the wicket-keeper batsman played fearlessly hitting Pollard for a six, as RR raced to 88 for 1 at the halfway stage. Rahane and Yagnik together put on 53 run for the second wicket. Harbhajan Singh finally got Yagnik (34) caught by Tendulkar at short fine-leg.
Stuart Binny (4) departed soon after he was run out by Johnson. Brad Hodge (27*) slogged Harbhajan Singh for a six as RR got a move on in the final overs. Some hefty blows at the end including 19 runs from the last over off Malinga helped RR reach 179 for 3 in 20 overs. Rahane carried his bat to remain undefeated on 68. Man-of-the-Match: Ajinkya Rahane Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 179 for 3 (Ajinkya Rahane 68, Kieron Pollard 1-24) defeated Mumbai Indians 92 all out (Dinesh Karthik 30, James Faulkner 3-16) by 87 runs.
