MI overcome Ashwin, Buttler for first win

The Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the forty-fourth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Suryakumar Yadav was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Shokeen and Kartikeya first to arrive to party

Jasprit Bumrah. Ishan Kishan. Tilak Varma. Rahul Chahar. Hardik Pandya. These are some of the names Mumbai has found throughout the years through their huge scouting network, in no particular order. Offspinner Hrithik Shokeen and left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya are the newest members of the uncapped club.

Shokeen has only played three games. He comes out as a strategic bowler who is unfazed by batters who want to challenge him. Experienced bowlers would tell you that getting rid of your fear is half the battle won. In the fifth over, he tricked Devdutt Padikkal in flight and did him in with his drift, who only managed to skew a lofted hit to long-off.

Kartikeya soon joined in on the fun. He has a deceptive carrom ball among his other tricks, which include the traditional left-arm orthodox, a seam-up, and a split-finger knuckleball, and he impressed with his accuracy and control right away, delivering three straight overs in which he conceded only one boundary and dismissed Sanju Samson second ball. Tim David made a simple catch at deep point after a break-free shot over point.

Finally, Buttler takes tee

Jos Buttler struck at less than 100 for much of his bat due to a combination of losing Samson and playing disciplined spinners on a sluggish surface that required the Royals to re-calibrate. Between overs 9.1 and 14.4, the Royals were denied a boundary for 32 balls. Daryl Mitchell, too, found it difficult to pick up the pace.

With six overs remaining, Buttler was on 43 off 46. In the next over, he found his release by peppering the arc between long-off and deep midwicket to hit Shokeen for a 6,6,6,6 sequence. The fifth was a dot, while the sixth was bowled around the stumps and away from his hitting arc. Buttler was out for a 52-ball 67 after picking out long-off. The Royals needed one of their lower-order batters to close things out, especially since Riyan Parag was also struggling. The Royals scored 158 after Ravichandran Ashwin finished the innings with a brilliant eight-ball 21.

Yadav maintains his position despite Sharma and Kishan's tumble

As Rohit Sharma's sweep found square leg in the third over, Ashwin was able to make an early entry with the ball thanks to a hint of grip and bounce. Kishan started his scoring with a six off an upper cut, and it appeared for a time that the lost touch and timing that had escaped him for much of the season was returning. However, he was a victim of over-aggression in the sixth over, when an attempt to take on Trent Boult with the short ball resulted in him top-edging a pull to Samson.

Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav knuckled down and kept the scorecard ticking along. Yadav swiped the spinners off their lengths, brought out his wrists against the pace, and continued to pick boundaries whenever the hitters were under duress. His half-century was raised with the shot of the evening, a whack from an almost seventh-stump Ashwin delivery that cleared wide long-on. Mumbai required 46 out of 36 at the time.

It's sealed by David and Sams

There was, however, a slight twist. Yadav and Varma both fell in love with big shots, giving Mumbai a few nervous moments. David used his big-hitting approach against spin and was helped along the way by some luck as he raced down the runs. However, things got a little tense when Kieron Pollard went down with the team needing 4 runs out of a possible 5 balls. With four balls to spare, Daniel Sams biffed the first ball into the stands to seal Mumbai's victory.