IPL 2021, Match 51: RR vs MI, Stats Review: Records tumble as Ishan Kishan, Nathan Coulter-Nile take MI to glory

Now, that’s something Mumbai Indians are known for – a dominating performance. In a must-win game, the five-time champions defeated Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets to keep their playoff hopes alive. It was nothing but a comprehensive show from Rohit Sharma’s men as the Men in Pink never looked in the contest. After restricting RR for 90/9, the defending champions chased down the total in mere 8.2 overs.

Earlier in the game, Mumbai Indians invited the Royals to bat at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium after winning the toss. Openers Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal played some delightful shots in the first overs. However, things changed drastically after the first wicket went down. RR suffered an astonishing middle-order collapse as speedsters Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasprit Bumrah, and Jimmy Neesham made the ball talk.

As a result, RR could only manage 90/9. In order to boost up their scoring rate, MI opted for an attacking approach and they executed their plans with precision. Openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan went all guns blazing, pushing bowlers on the backfoot.

While Rohit got out for 22, Kishan slammed a quickfire fifty as Mumbai crossed the line in 8.2 overs. This win put the defending champions fifth in the team standings while RR’s hopes of going to the next stage are all but over.

Meanwhile, here are the important stats and numbers from the RR vs MI clash in IPL 2021:

400 – Rohit Sharma became the first Indian batter and seventh overall player to complete 400 sixes in T20 cricket. He cleared the fence twice to get the milestone.

10 – Ishan Kishan became the 10th Indian player to complete 1000 IPL runs for Mumbai Indians.

4/14 – Nathan Coulter-Nile recorded his best figures in IPL. His previous best were 4/20 vs Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2015.

90 – Rajasthan Royals recorded the lowest ever IPL total at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 90/9. The previous lowest was 112/9 by Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2020.

2 – 90 is also the second-lowest total in IPL after batting the entire 20 overs.

40 – Jasprit Bumrah now has most IPL wickets in UAE, 40. He went past Yuzvendra Chahal’s tally of 38 wickets by getting his first scalp of the night.

7 – Kishan recorded his first half-century of the season and seventh overall in IPL.

34 –Kishan has now smashed 34 sixes in IPL in UAE, second-most for any batter. Sanju Samson (38) tops the list.

2 – MI recorded the second-largest victory against RR in IPL in terms of balls remaining (70). In 2011, the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala chased the target against them with 76 balls to spare.

2 – This is also MI’s second-largest victory in IPL in terms of balls remaining. In 2008, the Mumbai-based side defeated Kolkata Knight Riders with 87 balls in the bank.