MUMBAI: For the second straight day, rain played spoilsport in the Indian Premier League. On Monday, heavy showers in Kolkata had forced the Kolkata Knight Riders versus Punjab Kings game to be abandoned after just 3.2 overs.
But luckily, at Guwahati on Tuesday, the weather gods relented to allow an 11-overs a side game between hosts Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (MI).
The spectators who had stayed back despite the frustrating delay, finally had good news at 9:28pm when the players started wandering onto the playing area to go through their warm-up routines.
The covers were off soon to raise hopes of a juicy proposition of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi versus Jasprit Bumrah contest finally taking place.
The 15-year-old Royals opener has taken the game by storm but it was going to be the first time in professional cricket that he would face Bumrah.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya, however, didn’t start with Bumrah, instead giving the new ball to Deepak Chahar. The last time the two teams played, in 2025, Chahar had taken out Sooryavanshi for a two-ball duck, hence it was a good match-up.
But MI were pushed on to the backfoot immediately as Yashasvi Jaiswal took first strike and smashed the daylights out of Chahar, hammering him for 22 runs.
The fans didn’t have to wait long for the Sooryavanshi versus Bumrah contest. After the first over hammering, MI had to go to their best bowler—Bumrah.
It turned out to be a dramatic start—first ball against Bumrah, the dashing young batter had hit a six. The southpaw has underlined his potential with numerous knocks last season, and here he was proving that reputations didn’t matter to him, just the spot where the ball landed.
Bumrah had pitched the first ball in his range and he nonchalantly deposited it over the long-on fence. On the fourth ball, when they faced off again, Sooryavanshi went massive again. Bumrah bowled off-pace and into the track just outside off, and the batter picked it up and dumped it over deep square leg.
It showed that the player was unfazed, not in awe of even the great bowler. At the other end, Jaiswal held centre stage with hitting of the highest order. Jaiswal ensured there was no pressure on the young Sooryavanshi, playing a virtuoso knock of 77 not out (32b; 10×4, 4×6) to power RR to a total of 150/3.
The RR opening pair seized the advantage in the truncated game with a flying start. Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi raised RR’s fifty in 2.4 overs. It was 58/0 after three overs, Jaiswal batting on 37 (11b, 4×4 & 3×6) and Sooryavanshi on 20 (7b, 3×6).
Needing to score at a run rate of close to 14, MI had to match the start of RR. But nothing went right for the visitors. Ryan Rickleton was out in the first over, Suryakumar Yadav in the second over and Rohit Sharma in the third to leave MI’s innings in tatters at 25/3 after three overs.
When Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma both fell in the fifth over, it was RR’s game to lose from there. MI’s poor start showed there was some help for the bowlers with rain in the air. The RR openers had batted brilliantly to take the conditions out of equation.
Hardik, who was back after missing the previous game due to illness, was the only MI pacer to hold his own against the marauding RR left-hand pair, conceding just four runs in the fourth over.
For the fifth over, MI went to Shardul Thakur. Sooryavanshi gave him the same treatment as he did on his IPL debut, clobbering the first ball for six. Thakur landed the ball in the slot outside off and the youngster carved it over cover. Thakur managed to foxed him into hitting straight to deep cover fielder Tilak Varma to end the opening stand of 80, but the damage had been done.
The teenager again had everyone marvelling at his hitting ability with a power-packed 14-ball 39 made at a strike rate of 278.57, which included five sixes.
Jaiswal carried on, playing his most dominating innings of this IPL. He completed his fifty in style, going back and across to Pandya and cracking a four through point. It also raised RR’s hundred in 7.3 overs. The 23-ball fifty included six fours and three sixes.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 150/3 (11 overs) (Y Jaiswal 77, V Sooryavanshi 39, AN Ghazanfar 2/21). Mumbai Indians ( R Bishnoi 2/25). RR won by 27 runs.
