Man of the Match Jos Buttler’s (94*) superb knock and his six off Hardik Pandya to seal the game helped RR beat MI by 7 wickets. With this win, RR could now sense a place in the Play offs, with the remarkable performances in their previous few outings. On Sunday, the Rajasthan Royals defeated the Mumbai Indians at their own backyard in Mumbai, making life extremely difficult for MI in the competition.
With this win RR now have 12 points from 12 matches, while MI still have just 10 points on the table. After Rajasthan’s invitation to have a bat first, MI got off to a good start as Evin Lewis (60) and Suryakumar Yadav stitched together a good opening partnership. However, MI failed to build on that start and after a late flourish from Hardik Pandya finished on 168 for the loss of 6 wickets.
In response, RR got there in 18 overs and lost 3 wickets. Ajinkya Rahane scored 37 while Sanju Samson contributed unbeaten 26 runs for his side. This defeat is certainly a big blow to MI’s hopes of a Play Off spot. Both teams now have 2 matches left in the league stage.
