Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in a low-scoring Indian Premier League match in Sharjah on Tuesday, thanks to outstanding bowling from Jimmy Neesham and Nathan Coulter-Nile. Rajasthan were reduced to 90 for 9 when New Zealander Neesham (3/12) and Australian Coulter-Nile (4/14) combined to take seven wickets for only 26 runs in eight overs. The five-time champions then smashed the runs in 8.2 overs to increase their lead to 12 points and, more significantly, lower their net run rate to -0.048.

This was also MI’s largest win in terms of balls left on the field (70). During the short chase, Ishan Kishan (50 not out) gained some much-needed confidence as MI knocked Royals out of the IPL from the league stage itself once again as they flattered to deceive.
Except for Yashasvi Jaiswal, the Royals didn’t have many good Indian players. Kishan, who had been in poor form for the whole of the UAE leg, smashed five fours and three sixes.
He completed it with a perfect score. MI will now face Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday in another must-win game, but they will also hope that Kolkata Knight Riders (12 points, NRR +0.294) lose their final match against Royals on Thursday.
If KKR wins and moves to 14 points, MI will know how much they need to beat the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team’s net run rate on the final day.
On the day, Neesham and Coulter-Nile bowled the perfect length on a sloppy strip to restrict Royals to the lowest T20 score by any team batting first in Sharjah.
On a Sharjah surface where the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat, Rohit Sharma’s decision to bowl first was dead on, as Neesham (3/12), playing his first game of the UAE leg, took the pace off his deliveries.
In one of his greatest IPL periods, Coulter-Nile (4-0-14-4) was as efficient with his change-ups, hitting the hard-lengths more frequently than not.
Neesham and Coulter-Nile combined to give up only 26 runs in eight overs while also taking seven wickets, putting Royals out of contention.
It was one of MI’s closest to perfect bowling performances, as Jasprit Bumrah (2/14) was scary as ever with key wickets. The Royals were blasted away in four overs, falling from 41 for 1 in the fourth over of the Powerplay to 50 for 5 as the first ten overs came to a close.
From that vantage point, MI had no choice but to move forward. Sanju Samson (3) attempted to cut hard but failed to reach the pitch of the delivery, resulting in a diving catch by Jayant Yadav at point.
After the CSK heroics, Shivam Dube tried to reach a fuller delivery on “fifth stump” and dragged it back, while Rahul Tewatia (12 off 20 balls) tried to draw a short ball that came late and took the edge into the keeper’s hands.
Neesham’s replacement of Krunal Pandya, who has been a regular over the past five years, proved to be a masterstroke because he didn’t deliver enough pace to manoeuvre and also bowled wicket-to-wicket, not experimenting much.
Evin Lewis (24 off 19 balls) got the Royals off to a flying start, but the course of their innings was altered when brilliant Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) was caught behind after failing to ride the bounce off a Coulter-Nile delivery.
The rest of the Royals batters fell like a pack of cards when Bumrah got rid of Lewis with an angular delivery.