Quinton de Kock guides Mumbai Indians to seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals

Opener Quinton de Kock roared back to form with a blistering 50ball 70 as Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in their IPL game here on ThursdayPut in to bat Rajasthan rode on 42 by skipper Sanju Samson and Jos Buttlers 41 to post a competitive 171 for four but their efforts was overshadowed by de Kock who struck six fours and two maximums to complete the task in 183 overs at the Arun Jaitley StadiumKrunal Pandya also played a useful cameo smashing 39 off 26 balls with the help of two fours and as many sixesMumbai openers Rohit Sharma 14 and de Kock put up 49 for the first wicket The South African fetched his first boundary a cover drive and then launched into leftarm pacer Mustafizur Rahman 137 for a four and a maximum While Rohit played his trademark pullshot to get a six in the fifth overDe Kock hammered Chris Morris 233 for another maximum but Rohit perished in the sixth over giving a dolly to Chetan Sakariya at midon Legspinner Rahul Tewatia 030 conceded three boundaries in the seventh over two by Suryakumar Yadav 16 3x4 and one by de Kock as Mumbai got 14 runs However Morris brought back Rajasthan by removing Surya as Mumbai slipped to 832Krunal joined de Kock who completed his halfcentury in 35 balls and then got a life Krunal smashed a six over the sightscreen off Tewatia in the 15th over which fetched Mumbai 12 runs as they needed 41 runs from the last five oversDe Kock and Krunal added 63 runs for the third wicket and brought the side closer to a win A profligate Morris conceded 16 runs in the 18th over as Kieron Pollard 16 not out and de Kock took them on the cusp of a win Earlier Samson blazed his way to 42 off 27 balls as Rajasthan Royals posted a competitive 171 for fourPut in to bat Rajasthan openers Buttler 41 off 32 and Yashasvi Jaiswal 32 off 20 laid the foundation with their 66run stand in 74 overs Buttler started with a firstball boundary a flick to the fineleg fence The Englishman then fetched his second four off Jasprit Bumrah 115 a cheeky hit to the third man boundaryJaiswal picked his first boundary in the third over off Trent Bout 137 a pull to the backward squareleg boundary Buttler who got a life then upped the ante He took on offspinner Jayant Yadav 037 hammering a four and then a maximum in the fifth overJaiswal too changed gears as he struck a four and a maximum his trademark pullshot off successive deliveries off pacer Nathan CoulterNile 035 as his team amassed 14 runs in the sixth over and raced to 470 after powerplayButtler who was in his elements smashed Jayant for another six in the seventh over Buttler hit yet another maximum this time off Rahul Chahar 233 but the leggie dismissed him the very next ball stumped by de KockSamson started with a boundary a cutshot and then hit two boundaries off Krunal Pandya in ninth over in which RR got 12 runs But Chahar struck again this time removing Jaiswal as he lobbed off a return catchShivam Dube 35 off 31 balls 2x4 2x6 and Samson who hit five boundaries added 57 runs for the third wicket with the Mumbaikar playing some aggressive shots Samson also kept playing shots at will as he hit two successive boundaries in the 16th over off Boult which fetched his team 14 runsHowever Boult cleaned up Samson in the 18th over and then Bumrah dismissed Dube in the penultimate over as the Mumbai bowlers kept things tight in the last four overs RR got 45 runs in the last five oversThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever