W, W, 1, W: Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir & Dewald Brevis Secure Ducks as Trent Boult Stuns Mumbai Indians - WATCH

Mumbai Indians are going through a tough phase in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The fans didn’t welcome the much-hyped change in captaincy, expressing their disagreement openly on match days. Moreover, the team lost their first two games and are currently reeling at the 10^th spot on the points table. Coming to their home ground – Wankhede – on Monday for their 250^th game, they hoped for redemption against the Rajasthan Royals but the start of the face-off was as ugly as it could be.

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The local hero, Rohit Sharma received a rousing reception after MI were asked to bat first. But his stay in the middle was short-lived as the former MI skipper edged the very first ball he faced to the wicketkeeper. Rohit’s weakness against left-arm pacers was exposed once again and Trent Boult had the last laugh. With this dismissal, the former MI captain also equalled Dinesh Karthik’s bizarre record of securing most number of ducks in IPL.

The Kiwi pacer struck again in the very next ball to trap Naman Dhir in front. Boult’s length ball shaped back in to rap Dhir on the pads. The MI no. 3 reviewed the decision, only to find three reds on the ball tracker – pitching in line, impact in line and as per the umpire’s call, it was clipping the top of the leg stump.

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Boult returned with his next over to hurt Mumbai, removing ‘Impact Sub’ Dewald Brevis for a golden duck. The South African batter looked to drive through covers but the outside edge flew straight to Nandre Burger at short third man. The 5-time champions were three men down within as many overs and all of them were back in the hut without scoring.

Earlier, the Royals won the toss and elected to bowl first against Mumbai at the latter’s home. The visitors made one change in the squad, bringing in Nandre Burger for Sandeep Sharma, who is not 100 percent fit.

“This is the first game here, hope the seamers will use the conditions upfront. Confident from the wins but the tournament has not yet started so we need to keep going. Sandeep misses out, he’s not 100% fit. Burger in the XI,” said RR skipper Sanju Samson.

Hardik said he too wanted to bowl first. “Good toss to lose, we’ll see what we can put up,” he said.

Asked about it being Mumbai’s 250th game in IPL, Pandya said they were quite lucky to be part of it.

“This franchise holds a lot of value and a lot of love from the fans, exciting to be very honest. We are quite lucky to be part of the 250th game. A slow start doesn’t bother us. We hope to have clarity and keep the mood happy and light. This group is all about that. Looking forward to playing a brand of cricket everyone enjoys and getting those two points,” said Pandya.