Captain Rohit Sharma, on his 35th birthday, fell cheaply again. But his bowlers and batsmen got most things right as Mumbai Indians, although too late, finally broke their losing streak with a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.

Opting to bowl first, the Mumbai bowlers put up a pretty decent effort with the ball, restricting the Royals, who dedicated this contest to their first captain Shane Warne, to 158 for six on a slightly sluggish surface at the DY Patil Stadium.

Thereafter, contributions from Suryakumar Yadav (51) and Tilak Varma (35), together with their 81-run third-wicket partnership, laid the platform for Mumbai’s first-ever win in IPL 2022 before Tim David’s cameo (20 not out) took them home with four balls to spare.

Surya and Varma’s suicidial dismissals did restore the Royals’ hopes of a win, but David held his nerves to make sure Mumbai finally got off the mark after embarrassing themselves with eight straight defeats.

The surface wasn’t at all a belter — even Jos Buttler (67), highest run-scorer so far in this IPL, struggled to maintain a strike rate of 100 to score his first 40 runs. But credit has to go to the Mumbai bowlers, particularly debutant Kumar Kartikeya (1/19), who reckons himself to be a “mystery bowler”.

Among the other Mumbai bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah (0/27) was economical and kept the in-form Shimron Hetmyer quiet during the slog overs. Aussie quick Riley Meredith (2/24) also fared well

Tad slow

For sure the stage was set for Buttler to produce another quality knock in this special game for the Royals. But the sluggishness of the pitch aside, Buttler wasn’t really looking at his fluent best. However, he took on Hrithik Shokeen, smashing the part-timer for four sixes on the trot in the 16th over.