The Mumbai Indians (MI) posted a decent total of 179/9 in the first innings of the IPL 2024 match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday. The Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur hosted the clash.
MI captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first in the contest. Trent Boult gave a great start to RR by dismissing Rohit Sharma (6) in the very first over. Sandeep Sharma also came to the party and scalped the wickets of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav to reduce MI to 20/3.
Mohammad Nabi (23) hit a couple of boundaries and tried to inject some momentum into the innings but perished in the eighth over without converting his start.
Nehal Wadhera (49) then joined hands with Tilak Varma (65) at 52/4 when MI were in a spot of bother. Both the youngsters stitched together a wonderful 99-run partnership to put the Mumbai Indians on course for a good total. The big-hitting Mumbai finishers failed to utilize the platform, as the visiting team could only reach 179 after looking good for a few more runs.
Fans enjoyed the first innings of the 38th match of IPL 2024 between MI and RR. They expressed their reactions to the action by sharing intriguing memes on social media platforms.
Here are some of the best reactions:
"This is a good score and hopefully we can win" - MI batter Nehal Wadhera after 1st innings of IPL 2024 match vs RR
At the mid-innings break, MI middle-order batter Nehal Wadhera reflected on his magnificent knock and the action during the first innings. He said:
"Really good opportunity to get a game in the IPL, was waiting for it and glad it came. Good that I could perform for my team and will be happier if we can win. We lost a couple of early wickets so my duty was to wait for the loose balls. That is exactly what I did. Me and Tilak have done it in the previous season as well and we were confident of doing it. The way we executed, I am happy with the effort and I hope our team crosses the line and wins."
Wadhera continued:
"When we usually have a practice session, I turn up to the ground early. The playing XI used to get the chance to bat early, so I used to get in earlier and used to bat in the nets like a match simulation. That gave me confidence that even when I was not playing, I was playing a match in practice. It was amazing to bat with him (Tilak). The banter and the fun keeps on going. The way he batted is also commendable and lots of credit goes to him. This is a good score and hopefully we can win."
What was your favorite moment during the first innings of tonight's IPL 2024 match? Let us know in the comments section.
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