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Disciplined Rajasthan Royals limit Mumbai Indians to 161 for 5

Rajasthan Royals pulled things back remarkably in the end to restrict MI to inside 170.

Shreyas Gopal bowled yet another incisive spell of 2 for 21. (AFP Image)

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Quinton de Kock top-scored with his third half-century of the innings as Mumbai Indians posted a fighting 161 for 5 against Rajasthan Royals. De Kock and Suryakumar Yadav were involved in an inspiring partnership but Rajasthan pulled things back remarkably in the end to restrict MI to inside 170.

After providing useful starts in the previous three games in a row, the opening pair of de Kock and captain Rohit Sharma did not last long with Shreyas Gopal striking to have the MI skipper out caught and bowled cheaply. But de Kock continued his fine form en route to scoring his ninth IPL fifty.

After three tight overs from the Royals up front, the South Africa wicketkeeper batsman took Dhawal Kulkarni on and smacked him for 19 with the held of three boundaries and a six. Dropped on 1 by Jofra Archer, with a four towards a vacant fine leg, de Kock brought up his half-century.

Yadav began to grow in confidence with de Kock and the two batsmen added 97 runs for the second wicket with the left-hander doing the bulk of the damage and Yadav playing second fiddle. After scoring at a strike rate of just over 100 with a boundary and six each, Stuart Binny struck to remove Yadav and break the partnership.

Four balls later, Rajasthan dealt MI a major blow with the wicket of de Kock with Gopal getting the batsman and finishing with yet another impressive spell of 2 for 21. Rajasthan, sensing an opening, capitalised on the opportunity. Jaydev Unadkat came back strongly in his final spell and cleaned up Kieron Pollard after the West Indian had struck a six over long-on.

Rajasthan were let down by some poor catching. Archer dropped not one, not two, but three catches in total. After de Kock’s reprieve, he out down Hardik Pandya twice in the death – on 2 and 14 – as Mumbai looked in search of some quick runs. But Archer made amends with the ball, getting Pandya out LBW. However, Ben Cutting finished the innings with a six off the final delivery getting Mumbai to a competitive total on a slow, sluggish surface.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 161 for 5 (Quinton de Kock 65, Suryakumar Yadav 34; Shreyas Gopal 2 for 21) against Rajasthan Royals.

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