The Mumbai Indians finally ended their losing streak in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, beating Rajasthan Royals by five wickets at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. After restricting the Royals to 158/6 in 20 overs, MI chased down the target with four balls to spare. Suryakumar Yadav (51) scored a half-century in the run-chase, while Tim David – who made a return to the XI – played an important cameo of an unbeaten 20 off 9 deliveries to take the side to its first victory of the season.
The Royals faced their third defeat of the season and Sanju Samson’s captaincy came under significant criticism when the wicketkeeper-batter opted to bowl Daryl Mitchell in the seventh over of the run-chase. Mitchell conceded 20 runs in his first and the only over of the innings, which was widely seen as the game-changer.
Former India pacer Irfan Pathan recalled the moment in the game after the MI registered the victory, insisting that he failed to understand the logic behind the decision.
“Still trying to understand the logic behind bowling Daryl Mitchell the 7th over. Trent Boult didn’t finish his quota of 4 overs,” Pathan wrote on his official social media profile.
Earlier, Riley Meredith (2/24), Kumar Kartikeya (1/19), Hritik Shokeen (2/47) were the pick of the bowlers for MI, with Daniels Sams also getting 1/32 in four overs as the Royals were restricted to a low score at the DY Patil Stadium.
