MI vs RR: Tim David's fiery knock helps Mumbai clinch 1000th IPL fixture

The 1000th Indian Premier League (IPL) match saw a nait-bitting encounter between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, April 30. The five-time IPL champions defeated RR by six wickets in the last-over thriller. With this win, MI have climbed to seventh on the IPL 2023 points table with eight points.

After winning the toss, Sanju Samson and Co. opted to bat first. Rajasthan set a 213-run target for the home side, with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (124 off 62) smashing his maiden IPL century. However, the century went in vain as MI chased down the target in 19.3 overs, courtesy of Tim David's fiery knock.

The number 6 batter came in after MI lost the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav (55 off 29) who scored a brilliant half-century in the chase. The Australian batter was on fire as he troubled the RR bowlers, scoring fours and sixes and MI was in a position to need 32 runs off 12 balls. During his knock, he pulled off a brilliant shot and the ball travelled for 84 metres for a maximum as MI were in need of 24 runs off 10 balls.

He then had the strike in the final over bowled by Jason Holder as the home team needed 17 runs off the last 6 balls. The 27-year-old was on fire as he smashed three straight sixes and MI registered a six-wicket win over the visitors.

David scored a quick 45-run knock off just 14 deliveries. His knock was studded with two boundaries and five maximums. 

Speaking about the match, MI bowlers battled throughout RR's innings but managed to produce some significant breakthroughs for the home team. MI's Arshad Khan claimed three wickets, Piyush Chawla took two, and Riley Meredith and Jofra Archer both grabbed one each. Meanwhile, no RR batters excelled with the bat other than Jaiswal. 

During the chase, Cameron Green (44) and Suryakumar Yadav played brilliant knocks for MI. Meanwhile, Tilak Varma (29*) also delivered an impressive performance and formed a crucial partnership with Tim David. For RR, Ravichandran Ashwin picked two wickets while Sandeep Sharma and Tent Boult both took one each.