Twitter Reactions: Rajasthan Royals thump Mumbai in Jaipur courtesy Steve Smith and Riyan Parag

In Buttler's absence, Smith took the onus on him while the others batted around him.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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Steve Smith and Riyan Parag
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Steve Smith and Riyan Parag. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Well, the Mumbai Indians (MI) continue to slump against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). They have lost four consecutive times to the Pink army now and this time, the Royals managed to win without Jos Buttler. The leadership was changed by the franchise ahead of the game as Steve Smith took over from Ajinkya Rahane and the change was visible from the word go in the field.

After opting to field first, the home team managed to rock MI early by picking their skipper Rohit Sharma’s wicket. Quinton de Kock though was unruffled and he continued to play his strokes. However, he was lucky as well with Jofra Archer dropping a sitter. The South African made the most of the let-off to smack 65 runs off 47 deliveries and stitched a 97-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav.

But after the stand was broken, MI struggled to force the pace. With the long boundaries in Jaipur, the boundaries were tough to come even as the Royals bowled extremely well. The credit also has to go Smith’s captaincy who continuously shuffled his bowlers. Eventually, the visitors managed to post 161 runs after 20 overs which looked just about par at that stage.

Smith and Parag thump MI

The chase for the Royals also began with a quick wicket of Ajinkya Rahane. But Sanju Samson took the attack to the opposition in the powerplay even as Steve Smith seamlessly got some quick runs soon after stepping on the field. Both of them took RR’s score to 60/1 after 6 overs and from then on it was Smith’s territory. He rotated the strike beautifully to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Meanwhile, Rahul Chahar was sensational during his spell. He sent back Rahane early and then snaffled Samson and Ben Stokes in the same over to bring MI back in the contest. But the 17-year-old Riyan Parag and played with amazing freedom and took all the pressure off Smith. Both of them added 70 runs for the fourth over and the pace was just enough for the Royals to stay ahead in the game.

Though Parag got run-out in the final moments of the match, he had done enough by scoring 43 off just 29 balls. Ashton Turner registered his fifth consecutive duck in the format then but Smith remained adamant and won the game for this team to make it 4-0 against MI in two years. Smith, returned as captain, remained unbeaten on 63 as RR got home with five wickets in hand.

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