Quinton de Kock hit his first half-century of the season to help defending champions Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals in the 24th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday. After restricting RR for 171/4, MI reached the target with nine balls to spare. The win, their third in six, helped Rohit Sharma's team catch up with Delhi Capitals -- both with eight points -- as the fight for top-four enters an interesting phase. Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore lead the pack with 10 points each from an equal number of matches. De Kock started the chase with Rohit, who made 14 off 17, then held the innings together even as promoted Krunal Pandya hit 39 off 26 balls. Earlier, Despite a 66-run opening stand from Jos Buttler (41 off 32) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (32 off 20), and good knocks from skipper Sanju Samson (42 off 27) and Shivam Dube (35 off 31), RR could manage only a par-score. Opting to bowl first, MI needed Rahul Chahar's brilliance to check RR. Then, a miserly Jasprit Bumrah conceded only 15 runs for one wicket from his spell of four overs. Nathan Coulter-Nile, who replaced batsman Ishan Kishan, leaked 35 even as Trent Boult took 22 balls to get his first wicket, that of Samson. MI skipper Rohit Sharma used as many as six bowlers. RR were unchanged. They remained seventh in the points table with four points from six matches. Catch highlights and cricket scores of Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals here.
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7:07 PM IST: Result! Kieron Pollard seals it with a six. Also, follow the second game of Thursday double-header between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders HERE.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals: 171 for 4 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 42, Jos Buttler 41; Rahul Chahar 2/33).
Mumbai Indians: 172 for 3 in 18.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 70 not out; Chris Morris 2/33).
5:13 PM IST: Innings break! After a very good start, Rajasthan Royals failed to accelerate. Mumbai Indians need 172.
3:08 PM IST: Mumbai Indians drop Ishan Kishan for Nathan Coulter-Nile. Rajasthan Royals are unchanged. Here are the playing XIs:
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Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman.
3:03 PM IST: Rohit Sharma wins the toss and Mumbai Indians will bowl first against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.
