Rajasthan Royals

Thus partnerships and some tight bowling by the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling unit -- particularly Sunil Narine (who conceded seven runs in two overs in middle overs) while Umesh Yadav and Anukul Roy too gave away runs in single digits in two overs -- meant Rajasthan Royals fell short by at least 15-20 runs.

Asked to bat first by KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer, Rajasthan Royals struggled to maintain a good pace on a pitch that was hosting its second match after Sunday's afternoon clash between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings. Though the pitch looked dry and firm, it was slow and did help the spinners a bit, and Rajasthan Royals batters barring Samson and Hetmyer failed to get going.

Their retentions barring Sunil Narine haven't clicked in the season. Venkatesh Iyer, one of their main catalysts for becoming runners-up in 2021, has been out of form and change in batting slots from opening to middle-order and back at the top haven't got his mojo back.

On Saturday, Kartikeya showed why Mumbai fast-tracked him from a net bowler to a replacement player and then gave him an IPL debut against Rajasthan Royals at DY Patil Stadium.

Chasing a target of 159 for victory, the fortune favoured Mumbai, who were seeking their first points in the competition as there was plenty of dew on the ground in the second innings at the Dr DY Patil Stadium on Saturday.

It was Mumbai's first win in their ninth game of the ongoing IPL 2022 season. On the other hand, Rajasthan are at the second spot with six wins in nine matches. Earlier, Mumbai Indians restricted Rajasthan Royals to 158/6 in 20 overs despite a fine fifty from Jos Buttler (67 off 52) after winning the toss and opting to bowl first.

Apart from Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin (21 off 9) played a useful cameo towards the end of the innings. The likes of Devdutt Padikkal (15), Sanju Samson (16) and Daryl Mitchell (17) got good starts but failed to convert them to big innings. On the other hand, Riley Meredith (2/24), Hrithik Shokeen (2/47), Daniel Sams (1/32), Kumar Kartikeya (1/19) were the wicket-takers for Mumbai.

Mumbai Indians, who haven't won a single game in the ongoing season, made two changes in their playing XI as Tim David and Kumar Kartikeya come in place of Dewald Brevis and Jaydev Unadkat. "We would like to bowl first. What we have seen over the course of the tournament, it suits us. We like to chase. We have a couple of changes. Tim David and Kumar Kartikeya come in for Brevis and Unadkat," said Rohit at the toss.

Before the start of the tournament, Rajasthan had been tipped to be one of the best bowling attacks considering the experience of proven performers like Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna. So far, Rajasthan's bowling has lived up to its pre-tournament billing, as seen from a clinical performance to bowl out Royal Challengers Bangalore for 115 all out at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.

Since his entry into the Rajasthan fold, Parag had shown glimpses of what he can offer as an all-rounder. Things hit a tough end when Parag had a horror time in 2021, making just 93 runs at an average of just 11.62. Despite the horrors of 2021, Rajasthan again signed him up in the mega auction. But the start wasn't promising for Parag with the bat and social media trolls were breathing down his neck.