Defending champions Mumbai India thrashed Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets with 70 balls to spare. Catch highlights of RR vs MI, IPL 2021 match here.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and put Rajasthan Royals into bat. Then the pacers took over, with Nathan Coulter-Nile (4/14), Jimmy Neesham (3/12) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/14) toying with Rajasthan Royals batters on what looked like a two-paced, sluggish Sharjah top. Evin Lewis top-scored with 24 in 19. But what followed was a study in contrast with Rohit Sharma (22 off 13) and Ishan Kishan (50 off 25) making sure that the defending champions knock off the 91-run target in no time. They won the match in 8.2 overs. The win helped Mumbai move to fifth place with 12 points, while Rajasthan Royals are seventh with ten, after 13 matches each. Royals will need a miracle now. Mumbai take on already eliminated Sunrisers Hyderabad in their final league match, while Rajasthan face Kolkata Knight Riders. Here's the updated points table:
Ishan Kishan finishes it with a four and six off Mustafizur Rahman. Also a fifty for the Mumbai opener, in 25 balls. Some win to revive defending champions' season for sure. MI - 94/2 (8.2); RR - 90/9 (20)
Ishan Kishan (40 off 23) giving Rajasthan Royals no breathing space. He hits Chetan Sakariya for back-to-back sixes, off the fourth an fifth. Massive over. 24 runs. Mumbai need 7 from 72. MI - 84/2 (8)
Mustafizur Rahman gives Rajasthan Royals a breather by removing a dangerous-looking Suryakumar Yadav (13 off 8). A skier and sub fielder Mahipal Lomror takes the catch. Hardik Pandya is the new man for Mumbai. Eight runs and a wicket from the over. Mumbai need 35 in 84. MI - 56/2 (6)
Chetan Sakariya continues, and gets the big wicket of Rohit Sharma (22 off 13). Rohit's bat flies as far as the ball. Yashasvi Jaiswal takes a neat catch at cover. New man Suryakumar Yadav hits the next ball for a four. Ishan Kishan gets into the act, and hits the fifth for a four through cover. Then, another, almost, to backward point. Two for the effort. 11 from the over. MI - 35/1 (4)
Shreyas Gopal on with his first over. Rohit Sharma hits the second ball for a six, over square leg boundary. And the next ball, Sanju Samson misses a very easy chance to stump his rival number. In the previous over, Chetan Sakariya produced a maiden, to Ishan Kishan. MI - 23/0 (3)
Captain Rohit Sharma takes charge. A four off the third, through cover and a six off the fifth, over the bowler's head. 14 runs from the over. Ishan Kishan is yet to face a ball.
Mustafizur Rahman with the new ball. Rohit Sharma takes strike. His opening partner is Ishan Kishan. Target - 91.
Trent Boult with the last over. Mustafizur Rahman hits the fifth ball for a six. Some joy for Rajasthan Royals. And seven runs from the over. Boult's figures: 0/24. 19 runs and three wickets in the last five overs as Rajasthan create unwanted record of lowest IPL score in Sharjah batting first. RR - 90/9. In the penultimate over, Nathan Coulter-Nile conceded five for a wicket. His figures - 4/14.
Nathan Coulter-Nile also gets his third. David Miller (15 off 23) misses a straighter and is trapped in front. Kuldip Yadav joins Chetan Sakariya in the middle. 20 runs and three wickets in the last five overs. RR - 76/8 (17)
Jasprit Bumrah gets his second. Ishan Kishan takes a diving catch. Shreyas Gopal gone for a first ball duck. RR - 74/7 (16).
BTW, Rohit Sharma is back.
James Neesham gets his third, with the last ball of his spell. Rahul Tewatia (12 off 20), caught behind. Neesham's figures - 3/12. Deadly. RR - 71/6 (15).
Earlier, Rohit Sharma took a nasty tumble while going for a dive. And he's off the field. Kieron Pollard is leading MI now.
Trent Boult on with his third over. Six singles. He's wicketless so far, but miserly. 0/17. 15 runs and two wickets in the last five over. David Miller (8 off 11) and Rahul Tewatia (6 off 12) are unbeaten for Rajasthan. RR - 62/5 (13)
Nathan Coulter-Nile returns and gets his second. Glenn Phillips (4 off 13), is clean bowled. RR - 50/5 (9.4).
Second for Jimmy Neesam. Shivam Dube (3 off 8) drags one. 21 runs and four runs in the last five overs. RR - 48/4 (8.3)
James Neesham strikes first ball. Sanju Samson (3 off 5), caught by Jayant Yadav. Rajasthan Royals in big trouble. RR - 41/3 (6.1)
Jasprit Bumrah on with his second over. He traps Evin Lewis (24 off 19) in front with the third ball. Shivam Dube is the new man. RR - 41/2 (5.3).
Nathan Coulter-Nile strikes first over. Yashasvi Jaiswal (12 off 9), caught by Ishan Kishan. Skipper Sanju Samson is the new man for Rajasthan. Evin Lewis (18 off 14) hits the last ball for a four. Six runs from the over. RR - 32/1 (4)
Jasprit Bumrah on with his first over. Evin Lewis hits the first ball for a four. Five from the over. In the previous over, Jayant Yadav leaked 15 runs, with Lewis hitting the second ball for a six. Yashasvi Jaiswal hit the last two balls for fours. RR -26/0 (3)
Trent Boult with the first over. Evin Lewis takes strike. A single off the fourth ball, and his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal hits the fifth ball for a four. Six from the over.
But Lewis is struggling. An inside edge crashes into his left ankle. Getting medical attention.
A couple of changes each for both sides. Ishan Kishan and Jimmy Neesham in for Quinton de Kock and Krunal Pandya respectively in Mumbai XI. Shreyas Gopal and Kuldip Yadav in for Mayank Markande and Akash Singh in Rajasthan XI.
Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Kuldip Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
Rohit Sharma wins the toss, and Mumbai Indians will bowl first against Rajasthan Royals.
In the first leg meeting, Mumbai Indians chased down Rajasthan Royals' 171/4 with nine balls to spare for a comfortable seven-wicket win. Quinton de Kock played an unbeaten knock of 70 off 50 in Delhi to anchor the chase.
Murali Karthik predicts a low-scoring match. "Don't think run-scoring is going to be easy. Anyone winning the toss is going to bat second," said the former India spinner during his pitch report for the official broadcasters.
Chris Morris, 'the richest IPL player', has done precious little for Rajasthan Royals in UAE. The South African has looked rusty and ineffective whenever he has played. But RR's batting has received a big boost from the left-handed Trinidadian Evin Lewis, who has put on 225 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal in five innings.
JUST IN!
Sam Curran, who's with CSK in the UAE, has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a lower back injury.
Sanju Samson's form has been key for RR. He is 20 short of 500 IPL runs and is among the top scorers this season. He will hope the top order rallies around him as they did against Chennai Super Kings in RR's last match.
Rohit Sharma will hate to be in the position Mumbai Indians are in now. With the second-worst run-rate in IPL 2021 and 10 points from 12 matches, the defending champions have done precious little to deserve a place in the last-four stage of the tournament. But tonight's Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians clash in Sharjah should be a tightly fought contest because both teams will want to win and stay in contention for the playoffs. RR too are on 10 points from 12 matches but have a better run-rate than MI and if they can win their next two games, Sanju Samson's team will manage to squeeze into the knockouts. In terms of intent, Rajasthan Royals did very well to chase 190 runs against Chennai Super Kings on October 2. The seven-wicket win was fashioned by fifties from Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal after Rahul Tewatia took 3 for 39 to break the back of CSK's top order batting that profited from Ruturaj Gaikwad's maiden IPL century. Mumbai Indians are coming off a four-wicket defeat against Delhi Capitals. Nothing has been going right for MI in UAE. Good starts have been wasted, the middle-order that secured so many wins last season is missing spark and the Pandya brothers have not been able to display their full potential. Will MI make some strategic changes in the batting line-up vs RR? Follow live cricket scores and live blog of RR vs MI here.
Naseer Ganai / In happy times and sad, Habba Khatun’s sensuous songs make both young and old emotional. With the never-ending conflict bringing tragedies to every doorstep, Habba’s lyrics of separation amplify their mourning.
Haima Deshpande / In India, only those relationships between a man and a woman are considered to be legitimate when there is a marriage between the two.
Jayanta Oinam / Virat Kohli, 33, had recently stepped down as India's T20I captain and was subsequently removed as the ODI captain.
Ashutosh Sharma / A Mahila Congress leader, who is the face of the ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon’ campaign, however, has accused the party of anti-women bias after she was denied a ticket.