Yadav, Bumrah anchor Mumbai to 57-run victory over Rajasthan

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Oct 7, (AP): Top-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav scored a rapid half century and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah grabbed 4-20 as they anchored defending champions Mumbai Indians to an emphatic 57-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

Yadav played a career-best IPL knock of 79 off 47 balls as Mumbai rattled 76 runs off the last six overs to post 193-4.

Bumrah had captain Steve Smith caught behind in his first over before claiming three late wickets to bowl out Rajasthan for 136 in 18.1 overs.

“We strive to play with power,” said Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma, who added 49 runs off 29 balls with Quinton de Kock upfront.

“We were not sure how the pitches were going to be, whether it will be helpful for our pace battery. But it was nipping around and it’s good to have guys who can exploit those conditions.”

Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians both share the lead with eight points each but Delhi have a game in hand as Mumbai have played six matches.

Rajasthan, who started off well with back-to-back victories, have lost three in a row and are in the bottom half of the table with four points.

Rajasthan ran into early trouble when they were reduced to 12-3 inside the first three overs. Bumrah found the inside edge of Smith’s mistimed pull shot and Sanju Samson sliced an easy catch to mid-on off Trent Boult’s sharp short pitch ball.

Jos Buttler (70) resisted briefly, hitting five sixes and four boundaries before he was smartly snapped up at long-on by Kieron Pollard in the 14th over.

Earlier, Yadav and Hardik Pandya showed the depth of power-hitting in the Mumbai squad by scoring at a rapid pace in the death overs after Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first. Fast bowlers Ankit Rajpoot (0-42) and Tom Curran (0-33) returned with expensive figures off their three overs each as both Yadav and Pandya didn’t miss out on any loose deliveries.