Quinton de Kock scored an unbeaten 70 from 50 balls as holders Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League.
The South Africa batsman hit six boundaries and two sixes as the five-time winners chased down 172 with nine balls to spare.
Earlier, the Royals posted 171-4 with captain Sanju Samson scoring 42 and Jos Buttler contributing 41.
Mumbai remain fourth in the table after the win with Royals second from bottom.
Having lost the toss and being put into bat, Royals got off to a solid start by reaching 47-0 after six overs.
Opener Buttler hit three boundaries and three sixes in his 32-ball knock but once again failed to convert his innings into a substantial score.
The England vice-captain now averages 21.6 from six matches in this year’s IPL.
Having just launched Rahul Chahar for six, Buttler advanced down the wicket to the leg-spinner and was stumped by wicketkeeper De Kock.
Chahar, who finished with 2-33, then had Yashasvi Jaiswal caught and bowled for 32 from 20 balls.
Captain Samson’s 42 from 27 balls came to an end after he was bowled by a superb Trent Boult yorker but Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers, conceding just 15 runs from his four overs and taking the wicket of Shivam Dube (35).
In reply, Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma struggled to find his timing and was dismissed by Chris Morris for 14 off 17 balls
Morris – the most expensive auction signing in IPL history – then dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for 16, the batsman chipping to Buttler at mid-wicket.
But having scored just 47 runs from his four innings in this season’s IPL, De Kock returned to form to register his 15th IPL half-century.
The opener shared a 63-run stand with Krunal Pandya – who scored 39 off 26 – before Kieron Pollard (16*) hit the winning runs.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals have announced they will donate £725,547 towards Covid-19 relief efforts in India, as the country struggles with a second wave of the pandemic. (BBC Sport)
