Jaipur, May 1: Ryan Rickleton and Rohit Sharma smashed attacking fifties, while Suryakumar Yadav and captain Hardik Pandya provided finishing touches with unbeaten cameos of 48 to power Mumbai Indians (MI) to a massive 217/2 in their 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 50 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Thursday.

Rickleton and Rohit, who hit 61 and 53 respectively, shared a stellar 116-run opening stand. Though they departed in successive overs, Suryakumar and Pandya added 94 runs in just 44 deliveries in their unbroken third-wicket stand to end up at exactly 48 not out off 23 balls each, as MI got 71 runs in the last five overs.

With a longer boundary and lateral swing around due to strong winds, RR were able to keep things tight in the first three overs. MI had a scare when Rohit was adjudged lbw by an inswing and slower delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi and decided to take the review before the timer clocked 15 seconds. Fortunately, Rohit survived as replays showed the ball pitched outside the leg stump.

But after that, MI began to tee off –Rickleton flicked and pulled Farooqi for four and six before he and Rohit carted Archer for two fours and a six. With Maheesh Theekshana struggling to nail his lengths, Rohit lofted and sliced him for consecutive fours, before Rickelton dispatched him for another boundary, as MI got 42 runs off the last three powerplay overs.

Despite Kumar Kartikeya Singh and Akash Madhwal’s introduction, there was no stopping Rickleton, who hit three quick boundaries off them, while Rohit dispatched the former for successive fours and even reached the landmark of 6000 runs for MI in IPL. Rickelton then muscled a pull off Kartikeya to bring up a 29-ball fifty, before Rohit brought up his half-century off 31 balls by slicing Theekshana over point.

But after that, RR made a mini-comeback – Rickleton castled by a straight delivery from Theekshana, while Rohit reached out to a wide ball off Riyan Parag and holed out to long-off.

Suryakumar hit the ground running by hitting three boundaries in his first six balls, with the upper-cut and late slice being the standout shots, before sweeping Theekshana for six.

Suryakumar continued his solid show by swatting Archer for six, before a solid Pandya, who had hit two boundaries by then, lofted Farooqi for four and six respectively, before taking consecutive fours off him, as 21 runs came off the 18th over.

Suryakumar brought up MI’s 200 by lapping Archer for four before he and Pandya took a boundary each off Madhwal in the final over as both batters finished on a similar score off the same number of balls.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 217/2 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickleton 61, Rohit Sharma 53, Suryakumar Yadav 48 not out, Hardik Pandya 48 not out; Riyan Parag 1-12, Maheesh Theekshana 1-47) against Rajasthan Royals.

(IANS)

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