2414dThe Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy

Archer, Gowtham hand Mumbai another final-over defeat

Rajasthan Royals' two big uncapped signings turned it on at critical moments to swing an exceedingly tight game

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

SA Yadav
SA Yadav
72(47) 6x4 - 3x6
Control %81%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 20 runs
  • 3x4 - 1x6
2 0 20 6 7 3 21 13
Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan
58(42) 4x4 - 3x6
Control %80%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 24 runs
  • 1x4 - 2x6
4 4 3 11 8 19 1 8

Best performances - Bowlers

JC Archer
JC Archer
O4
M0
R22
W3
Eco5.50
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W
1W
HH Pandya
HH Pandya
O2.4
M0
R25
W2
Eco9.37
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W

Commentator: Sreshth Shah

12.10am That's it from all of us at ESPNcricinfo. Hope you enjoyed the weekend's action. We'll see you tomorrow evening for match 22: between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. Till then, this is Sreshth Shah, signing off on behalf of the rest of our crew. Adios.

12.04am Oh, man. What a game of cricket. The unlikeliest of candidates with the bat wins it for Rajasthan Royals. Six boundary-shots from K Gowtham as he makes 33 off 11 balls. That's the difference between both sides as Mumbai lose their fourth game. Archer, Tripathi, and the rest come running out to hug the tall man, but spare a thought for Hardik Pandya. He walks away, alone, knowing fully well he didn't bowl that final over well. Stick around for the presentation.

Jofra Archer, the IPL debutant, is the Man of the Match. Says: "It's good to be back in the park. We just wanted to restrict them. Stokesy and I had a chat, saying we had to pull things back. The chase was a bit nervy, but I knew with our dug-out talent we're gonna complete it easy. The heartbeat is still pumping."

Ajinkya Rahane, the winning captain: "Still can't believe what happened. The way KG and Sanju batted, wow, but credit to our bowlers to pull it back. I thought Mumbai would make 180-190, but still KG's knock was unbelievable. During the time-out, we wanted to take it deep, because we knew we had Jos, Ben, Klaasen. Rahul (Tripathi) batted well at the top last year, so we were just thinking about the combination. I think we'll continue with that. Archer's fantastic. Happy to see him back. The way he bowled in the middle-overs was incredible. Jofra can bowl 140+ and his accuracy was fantastic. He's always thinking about wickets and that's the way to go."

Diwakar: "MI have lost the match twice this season that they were almost winning and both the times their former player made that happen. Bravo against CSK and now K Gowtham against RR." -- Isn't everyone ex Mumbai Indians though? :P

Jayaprakash: "When MI lost their first 3 close matches many experts weren't really concerned. But, seeing as the trend seems to continue - there is just something not quite right with MI. will be surprised if they make the playoffs now"

Sasi Kanth: "If a team is not able to win the pressure moments of the game consistently, the leadership group needs to have a hard look in the mirror. Are they creating the right environment for their players to back their skills and enjoy the moment?"

Akshaye: "Samson's words show what a humble and modestcharacter he is, a marked difference from the other player from Kerala who played for Royals, the fast bowler who led to them being banned.."

Manish : "I would like to challenge India cricket team with these young lads. My young India XI K rahul (c), Ishan K, Sanju S, Rana, Rishabh P (wk), Krunal P, Gowtham, Martande, s kaul, tewatia, chahar."

Naman: "Rohit's speeches this season.. "We were 10-15 runs short... Credit goes to opponent team...""

Gowtham, the man of the moment: "On top of the world, had a decent first-class season with the bat. My captain said 'believe', and that's what I did. No nerves on turning the single down. Just needed six off three balls, one good hit, that's all I was thinking."

Rial: "K for Karthik in Nidhas and now K for Krishnappa. Remember the K"

Pratik Suhas De: "Poor captaincy by Rohit. Bowlers and the captain were not in sync at all. Short/wide Yorker with no third man/fine leg! How does that make sense?!"

Samson, the orange-cap holder: "How many runs one makes, it's the person who hits the winning runs that matters. Very happy for Gowtham. Happy that we won, because otherwise getting the orange cap by losing means nothing."

Jai: "Feel as though this is the toughest loss for Mumbai this season so far. Were in a good winning position until the last three overs. They have a talented pace attack, but there's definitely a piece missing in their attack.."

Rohit Sharma, the losing captain Not easy to digest. Especially, towards the end we were in the game, but credit to them. Not easy to score 10-per-over on this surface. Not making 180-190 hurt us. We didn't capitalise on the start we got. It's the second or third time we've done this. We've addressed this before, but need to improve. We needed to be smarter on where we should've hit the ball, but credit to their bowlers. Not easy to lose close games, and that's why I've not been too critical of our bowlers. They have pulled things back often, but our batting wasn't good. Twenty more runs would've been enough.

19.4
6
HH Pandya to Gowtham, SIX, Gowtham conquers Jaipur! Short outside off, and the batsman stays on the back foot to pull it towards the leg side. Off the bat's sweet spot and the ball soars over the mid-wicket boundary. Royals win by three wickets

Six off three now.... both camps are nervous.

19.3
0
HH Pandya to Gowtham, no run, overpitched on off stump, and that's been drilled to cover. Unadkat's halfway down the wicket, but Gowtham sends him back. Will this hurt Royals?

Royals need six off four balls. Massive conference happening in the middle, between Rohit and the Pandya bros. Ajinkya Rahane looks super nervous.

19.2
4
HH Pandya to Gowtham, FOUR, ramped over short third man! It's full outside off, and Gowtham gets down on one knee, opens the bat's face, and sends it over the infield. The Royals camp erupts!

Abhinav: "Feels like a super over is on the cards!!" -- Ten needed off five balls

19.1
W
HH Pandya to Archer, OUT, goes short outside off, and Archer's pull takes the top edge! Hardik gets under it, and manages to keep his composure

JC Archer c & b HH Pandya 8 (9b 1x4 0x6) SR: 88.88

Royals need 10 off the final over - what a crazy Sunday of cricket, eh? Hardik to bowl the final over.

END OF OVER:
19 | 18 Runs | RR: 158/6 (10 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 8.31, RRR: 10.00)

  • Krishnappa Gowtham23 (8b)
  • Jofra Archer8 (8b)
  • Jasprit Bumrah4-0-28-2
  • Mustafizur Rahman4-0-35-1
18.6
4
Bumrah to Gowtham, FOUR, full on off stump, and Gowtham's leg-side heave comes off the bat's inside edge. That means the shot goes behind square, and that means into the gap. Finds the backward square boundary. Eighteen off the over
18.5
0
Bumrah to Gowtham, no run, takes the pace off! Full, and super slow outside off. Gowtham tries to slog this over Bumrah's head, and ends up missing completely

RR 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st14AM RahaneRA Tripathi
2nd24AM RahaneSV Samson
3rd72BA StokesSV Samson
4th15JC ButtlerSV Samson
5th0JC ButtlerH Klaasen
6th0H KlaasenJC Archer
7th33K GowthamJC Archer
8th10JD UnadkatK Gowtham