Yashasvi Jaiswal struck form with an unbeaten 104 as Rajasthan Royals consolidated their position at the top of the IPL table with a nine-wicket thrashing of Mumbai Indians on Monday.

Medium-pace bowler Sandeep Sharma took 5-18 to help restrict Mumbai to 179-9 after Yuzvendra Chahal claimed an IPL first of 200 wickets at Rajasthan’s home ground in Jaipur.

Jaiswal, a left-handed opener whose previous best this season was 39, steered the team home in 18.4 overs in an innings interrupted by rain, AFP reported.

“I really enjoyed from the start and I made sure I was watching the ball properly and playing proper cricketing shots,” said Jaiswal.

“I’m trying to do what I am doing well, some days it comes good and some days it doesn’t, I’m not thinking much.”

Rajasthan, who won the inaugural IPL in 2008 under late Australian hero Shane Warne, registered their seventh win in eight matches

Jaiswal struck his second IPL hundred – both versus Mumbai — as he smashed nine fours and seven sixes in his 60-ball knock and put on 109 runs with skipper Sanju Samson, who made 38.

Sharma set up victory, his first ever five-wicket haul in T20 cricket as he took the spotlight away from Chahal’s remarkable feat and was named man of the match, AFP reported.

Chahal sent back Mohammad Nabi caught and bowled for 23 with his leg-spin as he celebrated the achievement with hugs from teammates.

But Chahal was taken for 48 runs in four overs and Sharma stood out after he took three wickets in the 20th over including Tilak Varma, who top-scored with 65, and Tim David, who made three.

Chahal was substituted with Jos Buttler coming in as impact player and he began with two boundaries in the opening over by skipper Hardik Pandya, who played his landmark 100th IPL match.

Pandya has endured a tough time this season after he replaced veteran Rohit Sharma as skipper only to be booed by the fans across venues.

“After the game, it’s not the right time to go to the players, everyone is professional, they know their roles,” said Pandya.

“What we can do is learn from this game and the mistakes which we have made, rectify it and make sure that we don’t repeat it.”

The left-handed Jaiswal joined in the charge as he hit South African speedster Gerald Coetzee for a six and two fours to get the chase underway.

Rajasthan raced to 61-0 in six overs when rain stopped play and action resumed after 45 minutes.

Piyush Chawla bowled Buttler for 35 after the break but Jaiswal stood firm and in the company of Samson made the chase a cakewalk.

Shah Naseer Noori netted direct from the kick-off against Jawanan Wahedi with a sensational long-range strike as Mawj Sahil secured 1-0 win in the fifth match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Monday.

In the sixth match of the tournament played later in the day, Mawand clinched 2-1 victory over Adalat Farah.

Abdul Rahman Mohammadi scored the winner as Maiwand came back from a goal down to beat Adalat Farah 2-1.

The first goal of the match was scored by Adalat’s Abdul Ali Wahidi who netted in the 36^th minute. Maiwand’s Rahimullah equalized shortly before the end of the first half.

Tuesday’s matches will see Abu Muslim Farah take on Khurasan Faryab at 1:00 PM, while Sarsabz Yashlar face Aino Mina at 3:30 PM.

The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.

Kolkata Knight Riders survived a late charge by Royal Challengers Bengaluru batsmen to win by one run in an IPL thriller after Virat Kohli’s angry outburst at his dismissal on Sunday.

Bengaluru conceded 222-6 after electing to field first at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens with Phil Salt smashing 48 off 14 balls and skipper Shreyas Iyer hitting 50.

Needing 21 to win in the final over bowled by Mitchell Starc, Bengaluru’s number 10 Karn Sharma hit the Australian left-arm quick for three sixes before being caught and bowled.

Wicketkeeper Salt then ran out Lockie Ferguson on the last ball despite a wide throw by the fielder as Bengaluru were bowled out for 221.

Bengaluru slipped early in their chase when Kohli, who made a seven-ball 18, fell caught and bowled off Harshit Rana.

But the former India captain looked confident the high full-toss was above his waist as the umpires checked for a no-ball.

TV umpire Michael Gough declared it out after technology suggested the trajectory of the ball dipped below the waist of the batsman, who returned furious after exchanging words with the on-field officials.

“It was crazy. Rules are rules, Virat and myself in that space thought the ball was higher than his waist,” skipper Faf du Plessis, who was with Kohli at the other end when the drama unfolded, said.

“You always find one team happy and the other not so with such decisions.”

The drama did not help Bengaluru in their chase as the bottom-placed side in the 10-team table slumped to their seventh loss in eight matches.

Earlier Kolkata, who jumped to second in the table with their fifth win in seven matches, started strongly with Salt’s explosive knock.

Fast bowlers Yash Dayal and Cameron Green took two wickets each to dent Kolkata’s top and middle-order but Iyer kept calm to raise his fifty in 35 balls. He fell after a 40-run stand with Rinku Singh, who hit 24.

Andre Russell, who made 27 off 10 balls, and Ramandeep Singh, who hit 24 off nine, finished with a flourish in an unbeaten stand of 43.

Russell, who was named man of the match, then turned up with his pace bowling as he took three wickets and fellow West Indian Sunil Narine took two to dent the chase.

England batsman Will Jacks, who made 55, and Rajat Patidar, who hit 52, attempted to set up the chase in a 102-run third-wicket stand, which was broken by Russell.

Russell took down both the batsmen in one over and mystery spinner Narine came up with another double blow in one over including Green and Mahipal Lomror.

Dinesh Karthik with his 18-ball 25 and Sharma with 20 off seven balls tried their best to chase down the target but Kolkata held their nerve.

“We go through so many emotions, tough to stay calm,” said Iyer. “Elated to get these two points. I feel that every individual should take responsibility to deliver. Russell came on and completely changed the momentum.”

In the second match of the day, Gujarat Titans defeated Punjab Kings by three wickets after they bowled out the opposition for 142 in a low-scoring game.

Indian Sai Kishore returned figures of 4-33 and ably supported by fellow spinners Noor Ahmad, who claimed 2-20, and Rashid Khan, who had 1-15.

Gujarat looked in trouble at 103-5, but Rahul Tewatia steered the team home with five balls to spare as the left-handed batsman hit an unbeaten 36 off 18 balls. – AFP