Jaipur: Yashasvi Jaiswal roared back to form with a terrific hundred after Sandeep Sharma's maiden five-for as a rampaging Rajasthan Royals hammered Mumbai Indians by nine wickets in the Indian Premier League here on Monday.
After Sandeep returned 4-0-18-5 to record the best bowling figures this IPL, Jaiswal found form at last in Rajasthan's final home game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, flaying the Mumbai Indians attack during his 104 not out off 60 balls.
Despite a rain intervention delaying the proceedings, Rajasthan did not face much challenge in overhauling a 180-run target set by Mumbai Indians, reaching 183/1 in 18.4 overs.
The contest also witnessed India and RR spinner Yuzvendra Chahal entering history books with 200 dismissals.
After Jaiswal put on 79 runs for the opening wicket with Jos Buttler (35, 25 balls, 6x4s), he added another unbeaten 109 for the second wicket with Sanju Samson (38 not out).
Jaiswal, who came into this IPL after an immensely successful five-Test series against England, had blown hot and cold. While he repeatedly got quick starts, Jaiswal was not able to convert those into anything substantial until this contest.
The 22-year-old finally overcame the obstacle, unleashing powerful pulls and delightful drives in his knock, which contained nine fours and seven sixes.
With this knock, Jaiswal joined Buttler to have scored a century for RR this season. Between them, the pair shares three centuries in this IPL already.
On a benign surface and up against a lopsided bowling attack, Jaiswal flourished right from the word go and went on to register a knock of highest quality — one that would bring him back in contention for a spot in India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
The massive margin of win for the Royals, meanwhile, consolidated their position at the top of the points table.
The Sanju Samson-led side now has 14 points in its kitty with a Net Run Rate of 0.698 with the win firming up their claim for a spot in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the tone was set by Royals' opening pair of Jaiswal and Buttler, who knocked off 61 runs from the target in the power play before the rains intervened.
MI deployed their ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah for two overs in the power play for a mere 11 runs, but the others were exposed again.
As has been the case with MI this year, the other bowlers remained poor despite injecting fresh option in Nuwan Thushara (0/28). RR took 50 runs off the remaining four overs in the power play to stay on top.
The DRS reading showed RR were 20 runs ahead of the par score when the rain halted proceedings.
Jaiswal and Rajasthan Royals picked up from where they left off, peppering almost all areas with exquisite strokes to keep charging towards their target.
Rajasthan Royals were also aided in their cause by ordinary effort in the field by Mumbai Indians.
Jaiswal was given a reprieve by Nehal Wadhera who spilled a catch near the ropes which ended in a six, and soon after, Tim David dropped a regulation chance at long on off Hardik Pandya when Samson was batting on 19.
Earlier, Sandeep grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul in the IPL to help Rajasthan Royals restrict Mumbai Indians to 179/9.
Coming back after an injury layoff, Sandeep (5/18) claimed three of his five wickets in a terrific final over while also accounting for Tilak Varma, whose 45-ball 65 (4x4s, 3x6s) lifted MI from a precarious position.
With their top-order blown away without any resistance for the second time this season by Rajasthan, MI were struggling at 52/4 at one stage.
But Varma and Wadhera (49) fought their way through adversity to deliver the goods for Mumbai Indians, putting on 99 runs for the fifth wicket.
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