Mumbai complete record chase after Jaiswal century

The Mumbai Indians and the Rajasthan Royals served up a classic to commemorate the IPL’s 1000th game on Sunday night at the Wankhede Stadium. Yashasvi Jaiswal lit up the stage with his maiden IPL century, powering Rajasthan to a first innings total of 212 before Mumbai completed the highest successful chase at their home ground, with Tim David’s extraordinary cameo of 45 from 14 deliveries taking the hosts over the line in the final over.

On a night when the Indian Premier League celebrated its 1000th fixture, Yashasvi Jaiswal provided a glimpse of what was to come over the next thousand games as he took apart the Mumbai bowling line-up on his way to a glorious hundred. The opener outshone Jos Buttler in the early stages, taking Rajasthan to 65 for 0 in the powerplay as he went after Jofra Archer and Riley Meredith. Mumbai pegged the Royals back briefly with three wickets, dismissing Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, and Devdutt Padikkal through the middle, but Jaiswal ensured that the visitors never lost momentum.

The left-hander got to his half-century in 32 deliveries and kept attacking on a slow pitch that made life hard for the batters. While the rest of the Rajasthan line-up struggled to get going, Jaiswal took over at the death to do the bulk of the scoring. The youngster reverse-swept Chawla for six and pulled Riley Meredith for a boundary to bring up a 53-ball century, his first in the IPL. Jaiswal ended the innings with the highest score by an uncapped batter in the competition, finishing with 124 off 62 deliveries and helping the Royals score 59 runs in the last four overs.

Chasing 213, it was a rough night for the Mumbai openers as Rohit Sharma was outfoxed by a Sandeep Sharma knuckle-ball while Ishan Kishan struggled to find fluency in his 23-ball 28. However, Cameron Green’s vital cameo off 44 ensured that the hosts maximised the powerplay, adding 58 runs from the first six overs. Suryakumar Yadav then took over the chase through the middle, playing around with the field and the Royals bowling line-up with his 360-degree stroke play.

Yadav swept Ashwin for six off his first delivery and carted Kuldeep Sen for 20 runs in the 13th over, keeping Mumbai on track in the chase with his trailblazing half-century. However, with 61 needed off 27 deliveries, Sandeep Sharma took a superb catch running back to dismiss Suryakumar on 55, adding another twist to the tale.

But with the dew making it tough for the bowlers, Mumbai completed the record chase as Tim David took the hosts over the line in stunning fashion. The Australian closed out Trent Boult’s final over with a four before smoking Sandeep Sharma for two boundaries in the penultimate over to leave 17 needed off the final six balls. Jason Holder attempted to find the blockhole with his yorkers, but missed on all three occasions, serving up a trio of full tosses to David, who creamed them all into the stands to secure a crucial win for MI at home.