Mumbai Indians openers had a gala time against Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing IPL 2025. Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton were on song as they stitched an opening partnership of 116 runs. With that, they set the record for the first 100+ run opening stand by Mumbai in the IPL since 2014. Michael Hussey and Lendl Simmons were the last Mumbai opening pair to score over 100 runs in the tournament. It was also the third time that MI managed an opening partnership of over 100. Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith were the first pair.
Notably, Rohit made 53 runs off 36 deliveries, while Rickelton smacked 61 off 38. They took some time initially but after being settled, the cricketers wreaked havoc and changed the complexion of the game. For Rajasthan, they could have pushed Jofra Archer for more overs in the powerplay, given his success against Rohit, but captain Riyan Parag had other plans.
Meanwhile, after the pair departed, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya took over the business. The flamboyant batters hit unbeaten 48 runs each off 23 balls. Courtesy of their phenomenal knocks, Mumbai posted 217 runs on the board - the second-highest total ever at Sawai Mansingh Stadium. For Rajasthan, their bowling failed to live up to the expectations. They didn’t use Jofra Archer enough in the powerplay, which needs to be explained.
Mumbai bowlers had a terrific day as well. Centurion in the last match, Vaibhav Suryavanshi departed for a duck. Soon after that, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah clinched two wickets each, and Rajasthan lost five wickets inside the powerplay. It was only a matter of time for Mumbai to get the job done in the end. Karn Sharma clinched two while the other bowlers stepped up from time to time to help the team register a convincing victory - their first win in Jaipur in 13 years.