The Sanju Samson led Rajasthan Royals (RR) comprehensively won by 6 wickets against the Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 14th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Monday, April 1 at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium.

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match. The decision turned out to be great for the team as the new bowlers wreaked havoc on the Mumbai Indians (MI) batting line-up.

Trent Boult took three wickets in his first two overs and sent Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis out for golden ducks. He was well supported by other bowlers and Rajasthan Royals managed to restrict Mumbai Indians (MI) to 125/9 in their 20 overs. Apart from Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal took a three-wicket haul, while Nandre Burger bagged two wickets and Avesh Khan got one.

Chasing the target, things were not very easy for the Royals as the Mumbai crowd was completely behind the home team and the MI players bowled some tight and long lines. Mumbai Indians (MI) reduced the RR to 48/3 at one point but then in-form man Riyan Parag took the game away from them.

The young RR batsman scored a fantastic half-century to lead his team to an excellent victory and become the leading run-scorer in the ongoing edition of the competition. He scored 54 runs off 39 balls and RR completed the chase in 15.3 overs.

I think the toss was the game changer – RR captain Sanju Samson

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson said that the toss turned out to be a turning point for them in the match. He had high praise for Trent Boult and Nandre Burger for doing a great job on the ball for the team.

While Sanju Samson praised his bowlers, he took a subtle dig at the Mumbai Indians (MI) batsmen, saying that he did not expect 4-5 wickets to fall so quickly. Here’s what the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain had to say after the win over Mumbai Indians (MI):

“I think the draw was what changed the rules of the game. The wicket was too sticky to start and the experience of Boult and Burger helped us. He has been playing for between 10 and 15 years and that is what we expected with the new ball. “We didn’t expect 4 or 5 wickets to fall, but we knew our players would do well.”

Sanju Samson further said that they have some big names in the team but everyone is focused on achieving the team’s goal. He also revealed that star Yuzvendra Chahal was excited to perform in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Sanju Samson further said:

“We know we have great people on our team, but what sets us apart is that everyone recognizes their role, does it, and moves on. People like Ash and Chahal realized that we had a good powerplay and stuck to it without looking for wickets. (On Chahal) I think he was really excited about this IPL and has been doing well for the last 2-3 years.It’s for us”.