Mumbai: Young left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed the highest score by an uncapped Indian batter in the IPL, a stunning 124 off 62 balls that propelled Rajasthan Royals to a massive 212/7 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
In the 1000th IPL game, Jaiswal shined the brightest by mixing solidity in technique and power in shots which were conventional and innovative while using the crease well in hitting 16 fours and eight sixes at a strike-rate of 200 in an innings where the next best score was just 18.
He made 41 runs off 23 balls in Power-play and amassed 44 runs off 25 balls in the middle overs, before smacking 39 runs off 14 balls in the death overs in a scintillating show of batsmanship.
Jaiswal continued from where he left in Jaipur, hooking off Cameron Green and Jofra Archer for sixes. From the other end, Archer was beating Jos Buttler for pace and movement, before slicing a drive through the off-side for four.
Jaiswal tore into Riley Meredith for four boundaries in the fifth over — a loft over mid-on was followed by driving through cover, slicing behind point and slamming one down the ground. Post Power-play, Mumbai had success when miscued loft off Piyush Chawla to long-on.
Sanju Samson began with a scintillating six dispatched high over long-on off Chawla before scooping a good length ball from Kumar Kartikeya Singh over fine-leg for four. But his promising run came to an end when he chipped tamely to deep mid-wicket off Arshad Khan.
Jaiswal marched on to reach his fifty in 32 balls in the 11th over with a drive on a full toss from Chawla. But two balls later, the veteran leg-spinner bounced back by castling Devdutt Padikkal with a googly beating the outside edge and crashing into the stumps.
A cut off Meredith for four was followed by staying low to scoop over short fine leg in the 12th over. In the next over, Jaiswal produced the shot of the innings by nailing a reverse sweep for six over point off Chawla and followed it up by smashing down the ground for four.
Jaiswal made great use of width from Green in slashing over backward point for four and followed it up by heaving Meredith over long-on for six. But he was losing support from the other end as Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel holed out to fielders in the deep.
Jaiswal maintained his tempo by walking across and pulling Arshad over fineleg for six. He then slammed Meredith for a hat-trick of fours in the 18th over — flicking a full toss through fine-leg was followed by pulling through mid-wicket, which fetched him his century in 53 balls and ended with a slice through backward point.
Jaiswal then backed away against Archer to slap over long-off and hammer over deep mid-wicket for back-to-back sixes in the 19th over. He produced a crisp cover drive and steered a wide yorker past short third-man for back-to-back fours, before being dismissed for 124 in a caught and bowled dismissal by Arshad as Rajasthan crossed the 200+ mark.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 212/7 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 124; Arshad Khan 3-39, Piyush Chawla 2-34) against Mumbai Indians
(IANS)
