Rajasthan Royals (RR) star spinner Maheesh Theekshana cleaned up the Mumbai Indians (MI) opening batsman Ryan Rickelton in the 50th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Maheesh Theekshana broke the century stand of the Mumbai Indians (MI) by dismissing Ryan Rickelton during the RR vs MI clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday, May 1.
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Ryan Rickelton falls after hitting a brilliant fifty
Rickelton continued his purple patch with the bat in the Indian Premier League 2025 as he played a brilliant knock against the Rajasthan Royals.
Ryan Rickelton dealt with the threat of the new ball bowlers very well and built a solid partnership with Rohit Sharma that put the Riyan Parag-led side on the back foot early on in the innings.
Rickelton batted with good intent throughout his innings and completed his half-century off 29 balls, with six boundaries and three maximums.
His innings was eventually brought to an end by spinner Maheesh Theekshana in the 12th over of the innings. On the fifth ball of the over, Maheesh Theekshana bowled a flatter delivery to the left-handed batter on the leg stump.
Ryan Rickelton tried to smash the ball across the line and missed his shot completely, which led to the ball uprooting the leg stump and making Theekshana jubilant.
Watch: Maheesh Theekshana castles Ryan Rickelton
Twist in the tale, courtesy #RR spinners 🪄
The Royals roar back into the game with 2️⃣ quick wickets of #MI openers 💪
Updates ▶ https://t.co/t4j49gXHDu#TATAIPL | #RRvMI | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/mFfDsADHEj
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2025
Rickelton finished his innings with a score of 61 runs off 38 balls, with seven fours and three sixes. Also, his 116-run stand with Rohit Sharma was just the third 100-plus opening partnership for the Mumbai Indians against the Rajasthan Royals.
I think they have found themselves in that zone – Daren Ganga
Speaking ahead of the match on ESPNCricinfo, Daren Ganga said that the Mumbai Indians would be absolute favorites to win the match against the Rajasthan Royals as they are looking great at the moment, with Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma performing well. He elaborated:
“Yeah, I think they have found themselves in that zone, as they say, as a team collectively. They had a few teething problems initially in the season. Of course, Rohit Sharma and his form was a question. They were still trying to get their best bowling combination.
“I think with Bumrah returning to this side, this side has now looked a very complete side in all departments of the game. They’re all cricket too, coming together. So if you told me Rajasthan Royals Royals lost that last game they played, hands down, I’d say Mumbai Indians as clear favorites to win this game.
“But given what we saw, Suryavanshi and what RR achieved in their last encounter, that to me will turn their season around. I feel playing in Jaipur, the form that we’ve seen from Jaiswal, the fact that for the first time after a long time, we’ve seen a 200-plus score on that surface, it will just bring renewed confidence to Rajasthan Royals playing at home.
“And now this makes this match-up and this match number 50 a much more even contest where it’s very difficult for you to make that call unless you see the surface and kind of make some sort of determination based on that,” he further said.
