Neesham, Coulter-Nile and Kishan demolish Royals
Mumbai Indians 94 for 2 (Kishan 50*, Rohit 22) beat Rajasthan Royals 90 for 9 (Coulter-Nile 4-14, Neesham 3-12, Bumrah 2-14) by eight wickets
Sharjah is no longer a batting paradise. The pitch has no pace, which is fine, but on Tuesday, it just didn't have any bounce. Rajasthan Royals tried their hardest to adapt to these conditions. They batted in search of 120 instead of 160 and yet they still ended up 90 for 9. Honestly, the people that found the Titanic down in the frigid depths of the Atlantic had an easier job than those who had to find the boundary here.
Even the Mumbai Indians were wary of what might happen once the ball gets old and the fielding restrictions are lifted. They gunned down more than half their target within the powerplay itself (56 out of 91) and then scrambled to victory with eight wickets and 70 balls to spare. As a result, Rohit Sharma and his men are still alive in the IPL.
The medium-pace masterclass
Some deliveries are just unhittable. And James Neesham produced 24 of them.
He bowled slow, so the batters had no pace to work with, and the pitch wouldn't let his balls bounce, so they had no leverage either.
Combine all that and you get why the New Zealand allrounder finished with 13 dots and three wickets. The first one - Sanju Samson, caught at point - was thanks to a knuckle ball. The second - Shivam Dube chopped on - was courtesy a legcutter. The third - Rahul Tewatia, caught behind - was the exception that makes the rule. An effort ball with pace and bounce and movement.
The end of a broken innings
There was no relief at the other end as well with Nathan Coulter-Nile picking up a four-for. He didn't care to bring down his pace, but even then the ball continued to misbehave. Glenn Phillips was all set to pull a long hop only for it to squirt between his knees and utterly wreck his stumps.
This really wasn't a pitch for T20 cricket and it played a big part in the Royals crumbling to the second-lowest total by any IPL team after facing their full quota of overs.
Ishan Kishan finishes it off
Having been forced out of the XI, these probably aren't the kind of conditions Ishan Kishan would've wanted to make his comeback. But installed at the top of the order, he was given the best chance for success and he took it with both hands, hitting 50 off 25 balls and batting through till the last runs were scored. They came off his own bat - a six and a four off Mustafizur Rahman. If Mumbai do make the playoffs, they'll be happy one of their best has come back to form.