RR vs MI | Player Ratings - Quinton de Kock and Rahul Chahar heroics in vain as Mumbai Indians lose to Rajasthan Royals
Quinton de Kock played a wonderful innings for Mumbai Indians, but that rendered ineffective at the end as Steve Smith-Riyan Parag partnership helped Rajasthan Royals romp home in a canter. Rahul Chahar impressed with the ball for the second consecutive time while Mayank Markande failed big-time.
Rohit Sharma(2/10): “Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last.”- Rohit Sharma must find a refugee in this iconic Sherlock Holmes quote as the same old problem continues to haunt him with no real action being taken to bring an end to it. The MI skipper was once again dismissed to a wrong’ un while coming down the track against Shreyas Gopal, which tells as much about his growing problems against leg-spinners as it does talk about his lack of intent to change the approach. A five-run innings doesn’t command more than 2 rating points.
Quinton de Kock (8/10): As the maxim goes, an over can change the course of the game, and Mumbai Indians were lucky to have Quinton de Kock to give them the crucial advantage. Rohit’s dismissal threatened to bug them down, but the South African hit Dhawal Kulkarni for 19 runs in an over to ensure that the run rate was in the upward direction. He ended up scoring a valuable 65 runs and even though the lower-order didn’t continue the spark, he was indeed the most valuable batsman for Mumbai.
Suryakumar Yadav (5/10): One of the most talented performers in the domestic cricket, Suryakumar Yadav has hardly lived up to the lofty expectations this year. He had a decent start, albeit slow, today but the fifth gear never came as Mumbai had to rely heavily on de Kock to keep them going in the powerplay and beyond.
Hardik Pandya (7.5/10): Mumbai promoted Hardik Pandya with the hope to take the benefit of the slow surface of Jaipur, though the all-rounder’s start was anything but that. He huffed and puffed for the first nine deliveries, scoring only seven runs in the process, and then managed to get things go quickly to ensure parity with his 15-ball 23. Hardik was excellent with the ball as well, both with the new ball and at death, and ensured that Mumbai had a chance until the last over.
Kieron Pollard (3/10): The stage was set and all Pollard needed to do was be there and unleash some of his vintage shots. However, the Caribbean hard-hitter huffed and puffed in front of the quality pace bowling of Jofra Archer. Jaydev Unadkat was not even targeting the good length spot - which of course was Pollard’s weak point - and not taking chances against that resulted in the burly Trinidadian ending up scoring only 10 runs off seven balls.
Ben Cutting (5/10): After a failed attempt to promote Cutting in the batting order, which was fuelled by his Brisbane Heat heroics against Melbourne Stars - Mumbai held him back as they realised that the slow surface wouldn’t suit the Aussie’s style. With the pressure off the shoulder, the Queensland cricketer swung his bat to a nine-ball 13 to give his team a finishing touch.
Krunal Pandya (4/10): The batting position was swapped with his younger brother as Rohit Sharma eventually decided to trust his team analyst’s words, but that meant he could only face a couple of deliveries. Those who know Krunal, would surely vouch for the fact that he wouldn’t mind that as he bowled with panache in team’s run-defense and while going for wickets, he conceded runs at 12 per over in the first two.
Rahul Chahar (9/10): There you go, Rahul Chahar is the new blue-eyed boy for Mumbai Indians. Unlike other leg-spinners, Rahul bowled regular leg-breaks and coupled with the fact that he varied the pace on a regular manner, Rajasthan Royals batsmen were deceived the exact way Delhi Capitals found a couple of nights ago. 3/29 is anyday a figure that would make a cricketer star for at least a few days.
Mayank Markande (3/10): While Rahul Chahar was picking wickets like plucking apples in the garden, Markande was sterile in his approach and depended largely on his googlies to get going. When that didn’t work, he could have applied pressure by switching the defensive mode - an anomaly in an age where leggies are the prime enforcers.
Lasith Malinga (4/10): What was Malinga thinking when he bowled a full toss on Stuart Binny’s pads on the first delivery of the last over? He wasn’t surely the man who carved the niche for himself, thanks to his ability to bowl some lethal yorkers in the death. He will be there for Mumbai for a longer period in this league when other players will move back for the World Cup camp, and that’s why Mumbai can’t afford to see one of their star performers bowl like this.
Jasprit Bumrah(7/10): Bumrah was at his usual best, nipping in the inswingers, as is his wont, and then managing to be calm in the death overs. While he remained economical, one thing that could be held against him was the fact that he didn’t try enough to beat the outside edge.
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