Blitzkrieg knocks by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi powered Rajasthan Royals to a 27-run victory against Mumbai Indians at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday.
The victory took the Royals to the top of the teams standings with three victories from as many matches.
Chasing a 151-run target in 11 overs, MI, who dropped to the seventh spot, managed 123/9 in the rain-curtailed match.
MI batters were never in the chase as Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma and Ravi Bishnoi took 2 wickets each, while Jofra Archer and Tushar Deshpande took a scalp each.
Naman Dhir and Sherfane Rutherford top scored for MI with 25-run knocks each and apart from them, only Tilak Varma (14) reached double figures.
The failures of MI top three Ryan Rickelton (8), Rohit Sharma (5) and Suryakumar Yadav (6), condemned the five-time champions to their second defeat in 3 matches.
Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi put on a scorching show of power hitting to help the Rajasthan Royals reach 150/3.
In their opening partnership of 80 runs in just five overs, Jaiswal (77 not out off 32 balls) and Sooryavanshi (39 off 14) smashed a barrage of boundaries, including nine sixes between them.
With ten fours and four sixes in his knock, Jaiswal dominated the innings from the start by combining grace and force.
When the match was reduced to 11 overs per side, Jaiswal came out with a clear intention. He destroyed Deepak Chahar in the first over and amassed 22 runs with a series of bold strokes, including a towering six, a crisp four through midwicket, and three more boundaries that set the tone for the assault.
As he faced Jasprit Bumrah (0/32 in 3 overs), teen sensation Sooryavanshi matched his senior partner stroke for stroke and displayed incredible poise. He smashed Bumrah for a six and then followed it up with another massive hit over deep square leg.
Trent Boult (0/22 in 1) was dismissed for three sixes by Jaiswal, and the two took full use of the powerplay to reach 59 in just 3.2 overs in a start that looked like a highlight reel.
The Royals’ openers continued to punish anything loose from the MI pacers, even though Hardik Pandya (0/17 in 2) managed to slip in a neat four-run over.
The teenage player’s blazing cameo was ended by Tilak Varma’s deft catch at deep extra cover after Shardul Thakur was smashed for two sixes and a four to the raging Sooryavanshi.
Allah Ghazanfar (2/21), who trapped Dhruv Jurel (2) leg-before and then had Riyan Parag (20) caught at long-on, gave the Mumbai Indians a brief comeback.
However, Jaiswal seemed undeterred and carried on slamming the bowling with ease. With a stylish cut through point, he reached a dazzling half-century off just 23 balls. To get the Royals to 150 runs, he hit the boundary once more to end the innings.
