Boult left Mumbai gasping in the opening spell of the match when he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Drevis 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 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.
Boult’s jolt
Former Mumbai captain Rohit was supposed to be the crowd favourite at this venue, but his time with the bat lasted only one ball when Boult got a ball to swing away from the right-hand batter and edge it behind. Next ball, Boult swung it the other way, getting a full ball to nip into Dhir.
With two wickets gone inside the game’s first six balls, Mumbai brought in Impact Player Brevis in the second over itself, but he too fell prey to the ball angling across, edging it to Nandre Burger at short third.
With three wickets in his first eight deliveries of the game, Boult gave Royals an advantage that they never let go. He finished with 3 for 22.
Full report to follow
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
Source: ESPN Crickinfo