Daniel Sams kicked his first pitch for six in the final to finally hand Mumbai Indians a first win of the Indian Premier League season against Rajasthan Royals on Rohit Sharma’s birthday.
Mumbai had lost all eight games but finally got back on their feet with a five-wicket win at DY Patil Stadium on Saturday.
Running machine Jos Buttler once again scored 67 of 52 as the second-placed Royals went 158-6 and that wasn’t enough to force the Indians to another loss.
Suryakumar Yadav (51 of 39) laid the foundation for victory and with four needed from the final set, Sams rose to claim it on captain Rohit’s 35th birthday after Kieron Pollard fell to Kuldeep Sen.
Hrithik Shokeen claimed Devdutt Padikkal’s first wicket and the Royals were 54-2 in the eight over when Sanju Samson left.
Buttler had just 28 on that many balls midway through the Rajasthan innings and Daryl Mitchell was also unable to go full throttle before being retired by Sams.
The mighty Buttler hadn’t hit a six until he exploded into life in the 16th, dismissively sending Shokeen to the ropes for four successive deliveries before being caught in the depths on the final ball of this more .
Ravichandran Ashwin added a quick 21 before being fired by the impressive Riley Meredith (2-24) and the Indian spinner claimed Rohit’s scalp for two in third over of the chase.
Yadav and Tilak Varma (35) went 81 for the third wicket but went in quick succession to Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna to leave the game in the balance.
Nerves were on edge when Mitchell caught Pollard from deep on the first ball of the final over, but Sams threw a huge six into the side of the leg to lift the root and Tim David was unbeaten on 20 from nine balls.
Resumption of normal service by the brilliant Buttler
It was an incredible IPL for Buttler, who is comfortably the tournament’s leading scorer with 566 at an average of 70.75 with a strike rate of 155.06.
Struggled to start after making eight against Royal Challengers Bangalore last time out, but brutally took part in Shokeen to reach another half century from 48 balls before leaving trying to hit the spinner on the rope for a fifth time in the 16th.
Yadav a shining light
It’s been a nightmarish season for Mumbai – the most successful IPL franchise – but Yadav has been a shining light.
While Rohit was unable to put half a century into the tournament, Yadav now has three and an average of 48.33, ranking sixth on the list of top scorers.
