Mumbai Indians’ winning run came to an end on Saturday with a 4-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium. Batting first, Mumbai Indians were off to a solid start with openers Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma adding 96 runs for the first wicket. Jofra Archer broke the stand when he dismissed Rohit for 47. De Kock and Suryakumar then took the score past the 100-run mark before the latter departed, leaving the team at 116 for 2.

Mumbai Indians then suddenly slowed down as Royals kept things tight from their end.  That Kieron Pollard managed just 6 from 12 balls tells the complete story. However, Hardik Pandya once again came up with a fine cameo to bail the three-time champions out of trouble. The allrounder slammed 28 runs from just 11 balls with the help of a four and three sixes to guide Mumbai Indians to a challenging 187 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs. De Kock top-scored for Mumbai with 81.

In reply, Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler started brightly. The two added 60 runs from just 37 deliveries before Krunal Pandya struck to remove Rahane. It, however, did not bring any respite as Buttler continued playing the big shots. The England star was looking primed for his maiden IPL ton but fell short by just 11 runs. He scored 89 from just 43 balls and left Royals at a commanding 147 for 2 in the 14th over.

The Royals were looking set to chase down the total with ease before they lost Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Liam Livingstone and Steve Smith inside 4 runs to get reduced to 174 for 6 from 170 for 2.

But before Mumbai Indians could pull off another heist, Shreyas Gopal took the Royals home with three balls remaining.

Apart from the defeat, Mumbai Indians had another reason to worry as their pacer Alzarri Joseph injured his wrist while fielding. The right-pacer, who picked up 6 for 12 on his debut, had a bad day at the office and had conceded 53 runs from 3 overs. He was still set to bowl the final over but the injury saw Rohit Sharma turning to Hardik. Alzarri Joseph suffered the injury in the 19th over when he made a stunning effort to save a boundary but ended up hurting his wrist.

On the third delivery, Gopal slapped one through extra cover.  Joseph then chased it with all he had and made a stunning slide to stop the ball from crossing the ropes. But in the process, he jammed his wrist into the turf. He was seen grimacing in pain before the team doctor arrived to check him.