The opening partnership broke at a good time for MI because it still left 8.1 overs for Suryakumar Yadav to have an influence. His team had set him up – 116 runs were already on the board – so he wasted no time. Suryakumar attacked six of the first seven balls he faced. The one he didn’t was one he couldn’t. It was wide, a mistake that he invites from the bowlers as they try to keep it off his hitting arc.

Suryakumar finished with 48 not out, an IPL record considering it was his 11 consecutive score of 25 or more. In an innings full of intent – he tried to hit a boundary off every other ball he faced – 13 attempts in 23 deliveries – there was always going to be jaw-dropping moments and one of those happened in the 19th over when he nailed a full-speed Archer attempted yorker which became a full toss for four over short fine. He was rolling around on the floor, bat out of his hands, but he had done the job.

Hardik Pandya was just as destructive. His methods involve staying deep in the crease and exploiting the balls that miss the blockhole. He hit Farooqi for three fours and a six in the 18th over, over the course of a third-wicket partnership that yielded 94 runs in 44 balls. This was the first time four MI batters had made 40-plus in the same innings in the IPL.

Cricket had the chance to avoid a cliche tonight. But it didn’t even try. The last time RR had to chase down a 200-plus total, IPL history was made with 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi scoring a 35-ball century. Here, the first time he goes for a big shot, he got out for a duck. This game just can’t help but be a leveller.

A measure of the lasting impact of that innings was the Jaipur crowd having their hands on their heads and the MI coach punching the air in the dugout. Men celebrating a boy’s downfall but he is no ordinary boy.