Live blog - Boult, Chahal, Parag ruin Mumbai's homecoming

Hardik Pandya’s return to the Wankhede Stadium as Mumbai Indians captain was no fairytale as the five-time champions lost their third game in a row, this time with 27 balls to spare. The Rajasthan Royals - led by Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal and Riyan Parag - gave them a thorough hammering to move to No. 1 on the points table with their hat-trick of victories.

Boult left Mumbai gasping in the opening spell of the match itself when he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis for first-ball ducks. His 3 for 22 was only matched by the 3 for 11 taken by Chahal, who controlled the middle overs to ensure Mumbai did not stage a batting comeback.

Chasing 126, Parag shepherded the Royals’ chase and dragged them out of some early trouble. He finished the game with six, six and four to stay unbeaten on 54 to take the No. 1 spot on the orange cap leaderboard.

Back-to-back fifties for Riyan Parag! He's now hit 20+ fifties in the format. Goes six, six and four to seal victory with 27 balls to spare. The Royals complete a royal hammering as Parag finishes unbeaten on 54 off 39.

A round of boos go around the stadium as the winning runs are hit, and this match has ended in superfast time!

The left-hand batter Shubham Dubey gets his first game of the IPL. He replaced Chahal as the impact sub, and walks in at No.6. He begins his innings with a boundary in his second ball.

Dubey is a 29-year old from Vidarbha. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he rattled bowlers with his strike-rate of 187, and it impressed IPL teams immensely. Playing lower down in the middle order, his SMAT highlight was his role in Vidarbha scaling a chase of 213 against Bengal, their highest-ever successful chase, with 13 balls to spare. Coming in as an Impact Player there as well, Dubey finished with an unbeaten 58 from just 20 balls.

The Royals picked him up for INR 5.8 crore after staving off a bidding war against Delhi Capitals. Coming from a modest family where his father worked as a pan-shop seller and hotel manager among other odd jobs, Dubey credits his recent success to Vidarbha senior Faiz Fazal.

It was important for R Ashwin to hang in there after Royals lost three early wickets.

Even though he scored only 16 runs at a 100 strike-rate, he held one end up in a partnership of 40 for the fourth wicket. A contribution like that is more than enough when chasing 126.

Madhwal with the wicket, who now has three. Royals 94/4 in 13 overs

As the Royals close in on a hat-trick of wins, here's a question to gauge fan sentiment:

No real pressure of required run rate for the Royals pair of Parag and Ashwin to worry about. Mumbai's window of making a comeback is closing as they try Piyush Chawla and Coetzee for a breakthrough but don't get any.

Parag then moves into his twenties with a lofted six over cover in the 11th over. Royals 98% favourites according to ESPNcricinfo's forecaster with nine overs to go.

Here's Sudarshanan from the ground: "still observing mixed reactions to Hardik from the home crowd. They booed him loudly even when he slid at covers to field a ball off Bumrah in the penultimate over of the powerplay. But when he handed the ball to Coetzee for the eighth over - and not bringing himself on - a large section of the Sachin Tendulkar Stand broke out into a loud applause."

Soft dismissal for Buttler, as he mistimes a pull straight to fine leg. A third failure for him, out for 13 after scores of 11 and 11 in his first two matches. Madhwal went short and Buttler is strong vs the short ball, but this time, he falls prey.

Royals 48/3 in 6.3 overs with R Ashwin in at No. 5. Mumbai keep chipping away!

First bowling change for Mumbai, and it has worked first ball. Akash Madhwal, into the XI for this fixture in place of Shams Mulani, gets Samson to chop one onto his stumps and leave Royals at 41/2 in 4.1 overs.

Madhwal, interestingly, took ten wickets in his last three outings for MI, but didn't get a chance in the starting XI for the first two games of IPL 2024.

Samson hit three scoring shots, and they all went for fours, and he goes back for 12 in 10 balls. Riyan Parag, No. 5 on the orange cap list, now walks in at No. 4.

In his first two games, Bumrah did not open the bowling. It was still understandable against the Titans but it left everyone confused against Sunrisers Hyderabad when he bowled his second over as late as the 13th over as the side conceded 277.

With very few runs to play with tonight, Hardik has given Bumrah the new ball for the first time in this season. He has got the ball to wobble sideways and also induced a few edges, but hasn't earned any reward. There was also a catching chance for Hardik at mid-off, but he couldn't grab on to that low chance offered by Samson.

In all, Bumrah bowled three of the six powerplay overs with figures of 0-19.

This is an important innings for Jos Buttler, having lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early once again. Royals rely on both batters tremendously, and with one of them not firing at all, Royals need Buttler to get among the runs to let them breathe easy. He has five 50+ scores in eight IPL innings against this side, but in IPL 2024 has scored only 22 runs in two innings.

He gets off the mark with a drive through covers and Sanju Samson has also struck back-to-back boundaries off Maphaka.

Royals comfortable at 30/1 in three overs.

The Mumbai innings finally totters to a close at 125 for 9 with the Royals bowlers dominating all three phases.

The best bowler was probably Trent Boult, with his first-ball wickets of Rohit, Dhir and Brevis helping the Royals throw the opening punch.

But Yuzvendra Chahal was not far behind. He removed the set pair of Tilak and Hardik and eventually finished with 3-11 in four overs.

There were steady spells from Avesh and Ashwin, while Burger stepped up with the important dismissals of David and Kishan.

Mumbai's batting progression:
overs 1-6: 46/4
overs 7-15: 56/3
overs 16-20: 23/2

In a unique little scenario, before IPL 2024 the Mumbai and Rajasthan teams swapped bowling coaches. Shane Bond went from the MI set up to the Royals group, while Malinga went the other way.

Did his insider tips have anything to do with Royals' brilliant performance? His team has definitely shaken the MI XI up with some stirring bowling plans.

This innings hasn't only been about Trent Boult. Yuzvendra Chahal has also completed a terrific shift here in Mumbai to leave no opening for the hosts to launch a comeback.

His final wicket is the dismissal of Gerald Coetzee at cover. Against the better batters, Chahal operated with a flatter trajectory. But against a lower-order batter like Coetzee, he gives a bit more air, and that has worked. Ends his spell with three wickets and an economy of 2.75.

The 8th:

The 10th:

The 14th:

The 17th

He battled and battled as wickets fell around him, and eventually he is googled by Chahal. Another smart catch by the Royals fielders, this time Ashwin at short third.

Chahal has bowled 11 dots in 18 balls so far, including the wickets of the two set MI batters.

When on top, it is important to not lose one's intensity on the field, and the Royals are doing exactly that. After Powell's tough catch got Hardik out, it is now time for Shimron Hetmyer to show off. Flies to his right at point to earn Avesh Khan a catch and send Piyush Chawla back.

Tim David walks in in the 12th over with Mumbai 85/6 in 11.2 overs. He will have a key role here with so many overs remaining. Tilak Verma has quietly moved to 27.

Sure looks like it as Mumbai send in Piyush Chawla ahead of the big-hitting Aussie in the 10th over.

Are Mumbai holding David back to keep him in his pigeon-holed role of being a death-overs batter? Or perhaps it is because five overs are still left between Chahal and Ashwin.

It was a favourable match-up for the leggie, and looks like he has won this battle. Hardik tries to hit his first six of the evening after crunching six fours, but in doing that, falls to Powell running back from mid-on.

Mumbai 77/5 in 10 overs but after a crucial contribution from the captain. Important 34 runs in only 21 balls.

Shiva Jayaraman has been watching Boult closely: "This was an unlikely spell of bowling by Trent Boult in the Powerplay overs at the Wankhede. For he had taken just two wickets from 23 overs at an average of 103.50 bowling in the first six at this venue in the IPL. He had conceded runs at an economy of 9 runs an over. This was Boult’s worst venue in terms of Powerplay economy among 16 venues where he’s bowled five or more overs.

What changed then? Perhaps the fact that this was the first time he was bowling in the first innings of a night game at this venue. He had either bowled in the second innings of night games at this venue, or had played in the afternoon matches before today. Conditions are more favourable for swing bowlers in the first innings of night games at Wankhede than they are later at night. Pacers have averaged ten runs fewer in the Powerplay and take eight fewer balls to strike on an average since 2022. They have averaged 71.13 in the afternoon games."

Time for spin after the powerplay, and it is Yuzvendra Chahal. He made his name by bowling on small grounds and batting-friendly surfaces and will be key through the middle overs.

Against Hardik, Chahal has good numbers: three dismissals in 62 balls with a batting SR of 93.5.

But against Tilak, Chahal has been expensive: zero dismissals in three innings, with a batting SR of 195.

Concedes six in his first over, including a boundary to deep third by Hardik. Mumbai 65/4 in eight overs

Hardik ends the powerplay with three boundaries in the sixth over. And each of them get a roar bigger than the last. Tilak and Hardik continue attacking despite the early wickets, but this would be a morale boost for the two batters in the middle knowing the home fans are on their side. Mumbai 46/4 in six overs

Sudarshanan from the ground shares more: "After the toss when the PA announced teams with individual players' pictures on the big screen, Hardik Pandya's name was the last. That was followed by loud boos from the crowd. When a new Mumbai batter was walking out at 20 for 4, there were cheers briefly before the crowd realised it was Hardik - thanks to his name and photo on the big screen - and resorted to boos.

But looks like the last over of the powerplay is one when Hardik has won over his 'home' crowd finally. The cheers only grew louder - first when he got two to get going, then edged one over backward point and then hit one through covers. The Wankhede roared when he steped down for a loft to long-on. Is that the change in sentiments towards Hardik from the MI fans?"

Test-match lengths work in T20 cricket too. Boult would agree and Burger joins the club too. Teases Kishan with a short-of-length ball outside off, and all he can do is poke it to Samson.

In walks the man of the moment: Hardik Pandya with Mumbai Indians at 20/4 in 3.3 overs.

He does well to survive the first ball, digging out a yorker.

It goes from bad to worse for Mumbai. After Ishan Kishan survived a Nandre Burger lbw call (which would've been out had Royals reviewed), Trent Boult strikes once again. This time, it is Dewald Brevis punching away from his body to a ball angling away, and a thick edge flies straight to short third.

All three dismissals so far have been first-ball ducks.

Also for your viewing pleasure:

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With Mumbai two down in the first over, they have told byebye to the dismissed Dhir, and have brought in Dewald Brevis at No. 4. Can Mumbai's young brigade rescue them?

Mumbai forced to show their cards early and the left-arm barrage continues with Burger from the other end.

Tremendous skill from Trent Boult in the first over to silence the Mumbai fans. Gets a ball to angle across from Rohit Sharma to get his edge. Then swings the ball into rookie Naman Dhir to get him lbw. Super control with the new ball!

Mumbai Indians 1/2 with fans still strolling into their seats.

The former Mumbai Indian, Trent Boult, will begin the bowling. He knows this venue well and also has a strong record against Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma.

Rohit vs Boult: 1 dismissal, 100 strike-rate
Kishan vs Boult: 2 dismissals, 110 strike-rate

And guess what, Rohit Sharma is gone for a first-ball duck, nicking away to the keeper! Mumbai Indians 1/1

With all the chatter about Mumbai Indians, you could forget that there's a second team playing today.

The Rajasthan Royals have batted first in both their games so far, winning by 12 and 20 runs. Jaiswal and Buttler haven't been among the runs but Mumbai is a favourite venue of theirs. Samson has begun strongly (as is his habit), and R Ashwin as a pinch-hitter has worked well too.

Among their bowlers, Avesh Khan has been nailing his yorkers and between overs 16-20 has an economy of under 7 this year. But they'll miss Sandeep Sharma, who can bowl in all three phases, and the Royals will hope Nandre Burger's pace can hurry the Mumbai batters in the first innings.

Their biggest positive of them all, however, has been Riyan Parag's form coming into the IPL. He had a stunning domestic season and followed it up with a POTM performance. Is it time to change our opinion about the young man?

S Sudarshanan has made his way to the ground for Mumbai's first home game.

"It’s been a windy evening in Mumbai. The afternoon heat has given way to a pleasant weather. There is heavy police bandobast per usual and some narrow lanes leading to the various entrances of the Wankhede are prohibited for motor vehicles.

"A steady stream of fans were making way to their respective entrance gates. No long queues spotted though. Unsurprisingly, those with Mumbai Indians t-shirts have ‘Rohit 45’ on the back. A few walked in with posters to reinstate Rohit as captain. Even the MI jersey replicas being sold outside - not the official merchandise - do not yet have Hardik Pandya’s name."

The toss host Sanjay Manjrekar says "behave!" to the Mumbai crowd as Hardik Pandya is welcomed with boos before the coin flip. They also chant "Rohit, Rohit" as the two captains made their way in.

Rajasthan Royals and Sanju Samson win the toss, and choose to bowl. He says Sandeep Sharma has a niggle and has been replaced by Nandre Burger.

As for Hardik, he announces the same XI, and says he is looking forward to the home support. Sports a smile. However, the broadcast shows Shams Mulani dropped, replaced by seamer Akash Madhwal.

They've lost two away games already, but Mumbai Indians are famously slow starters. This is familiar territory for them and two home games in a row could be the perfect way for them to ease into the season.

Karthik Krishnaswamy writes more in the match preview where he also says that even though Rajasthan Royals have won two games, they haven't met a side with Mumbai's batting might. That could test the Royals' bowling on a small ground. They are also struggling, a bit, with their openers' situation.