(IPL) A special night saw a special innings, a special finish, and a special run-chase as Mumbai Indians chased down 213 against Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling 1000th IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Tim David (45* off 14) provided a blockbuster finish with three sixes in a row with 17 needed off the last over to help get back to winning ways. Rohit Sharma wouldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift.
Yashasvi Jaiswal lit up the Wankhede Stadium with a whirlwind 124 off 62 balls to power RR to a daunting 212/7. It was a splendid innings on a special occasion (1000th IPL match) as Mumbai was treated to a run-fest at the jam-packed Wankhede Stadium. However, Suryakumar’s 360-degree special (55 off 29) coupled with Cameron Green’s brisk 44(26) and Tim David’s finishing heroics (45* off 14) helped MI chase down the target with three balls to spare.
Chasing 213, MI were jolted early as Rohit Sharma (3 off 5) was cleaned up by Sandeep Sharma off a brilliant knuckle ball in the second over. The in-form Cameron Green went on the attack straightaway as he hammered four fours and a six in the Powerplay, including three fours in a single over off Boult as MI reached 58/1 at the end of first six overs.
Green and Kishan brought up the 50-run stand off 34 balls. After a quiet four-run over from Ashwin, Green and Kishan took 13 off Chahal but Kishan departed in the next over as he mistimed one to deep point, off Ashwin.
Suryakumar Yadav arrived and took off as he smacked a slog sweep over deep backward square leg for a six first ball off Ashwin. He then took the attack to holder hitting three consecutive fours to take MI to 98/2 at the halfway mark. Ashwin then broke another partnership as he had Green (44 off 26) caught at deep mid-wicket.
Suryakumar Yadav then unleashed an array of wonderful shots to smash 6, 4, 4, 4 to welcome Kuldeep Sen into the attack. The eventful over saw Tilak Varma review successfully to survive after he was given out LBW. Varma and Suryakumar smashed 17 runs off the next over from Chahal to bring the equation down to 72 off 36. Suryakumar Yadav brought up his fifty off 24 balls as he provided a good finish to the Holder over accumulating nine from it.
Boult then struck a huge blow as he removed Suryakumar Yadav and it took a special catch from Sandeep Sharma at short fine leg as he ran backwards to pluck a diving catch out of nowhere. Boult bowled a brilliant over and gave away just six to bring the equation to 57 needed off 24.
Tilak Varma hit a four and David smashed a massive six off Holder to accumulate 14 off the 17th over. The duo took 11 runs off the Boult over to bring the equation down to 32 needed off 12. David then clobbered a massive six over long on off Sandeep Sharma and muscled one over covers for a four to amass 15 off the penultimate ove.
With 17 needed off the last over, Samson tossed the ball to Holder but it all finished very quickly. David started off in a brilliant fashion as he cracked a flat six over long off, off the first ball. He sent the ball flying even far off the next ball as he plundered a full toss over deep mid-wicket and way into the stands. The next one flew in the same direction as David thrashed it out of the park to win it for MI with 6, 6, 6 to spark wild celebrations. He remained not out on 45 off 14 balls while Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on 29 off 21.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bat. They made one change to the starting eleven as Trent Boult replaced Adam Zampa. They named Donovan Ferreira, Murugan Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Kuldip Yadav and Kuldeep Sen as their substitutes.
Mumbai Indians made three changes to the starting XI as Jofra Archer, Tilak Varma and Arshad Khan replaced Jason Behrendorff, Nehal Wadhera and Arjun Tendulkar. Nehal Wadhera, Ramandeep Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani and Arjun Tendulkar were named as their substitutes.
It was a special occasion – the 1000th match of the IPL – and ahead of the start of the landmark game, captains Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson, and legends Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara were presented with special mementos to mark the special journey of the league.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was up and running straightaway as he smacked the fourth ball of the innings, from Cameron Green for a six. He then smashed a pull off Jofra Archer for a 94m maximum in the next over. Jos Buttler then found his groove as he hit a couple of fours off Archer in the fourth over. Jaiswal took the attack to Green, smashing four fours in the fifth over.
Piyush Chawla started off well with a single and four consecutive dots to Jaiswal but the RR youngster finished the Powerplay well with a massive six over deep mid-wicket to take the away side to 65/0 at the end of six overs. MI needed to break the stand and veteran spinner Chawla answered his captain’s call again as he had Buttler (18 off 19) caught at long on. It was an eventful over that saw Sanju Samson smack his first ball for a six over long on and was then given out caught behind but he reviewed it and replays showed there was no bat involved as the decision was overturned. The RR captain though couldn’t make a strong impact as he departed two overs later, flicking one straight to Tilak Varma at deep mid-wicket on 14(10).
Jaiswal brought up his fourth fifty of TATA IPL 2023 with a cracking drive through covers for a four, off Chawla. But Chawla returned to provide a moment of magic three balls later as he cleaned up Devdutt Padikkkal with a lovely googly.
Jaiswal though kept the momentum going with a couple of fours off Meredith and then smacking a six and four off Chawla. He added a brisk 40 off 20 balls before Archer had him caught at long off.
Jaiswal then brought up his century in style, off 53 balls, with two fours in a row off Meredith and he added one more four off the next ball. He went after Archer again, hitting a couple of sixes in the penultimate over. He thumped a couple of fours off Arshad Khan before miscuing a high full toss back to the bowler off the next ball as he walked off to a standing ovation for his 124 off 62 balls. RR hit 16 off the last over to post 212/7.
RR brought on Impact Player Kuldeep Sen in place of Dhruv Jurel at the start of their bowling innings.