The Mumbai Indians defeated Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets on Tuesday to keep their playoff hopes alive. The defending champions finished the game in 8.2 overs and now their improved net run rate stands at -0.048. MI skipper Rohit Sharma, after the win, said that he is happy that they are playing Sunrisers Hyderabad on the last day of the league stage since they would have a clear idea about what needs to be done to sneak into the IPL play-offs.
The race to seal the fourth and final playoff spot is a tight one. Currently four teams are in contention – Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
Although Mumbai’s win against Rajasthan gave a boost to their run rate, Rohit’s men are still in the negative and not only need to win against Sunrisers Hyderabad but also expect that KKR lose to Royals a day before to make their passage easier. If it doesn’t happen, they would need to win big against SRH.
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Asked if it is an advantage to play a team like SRH on the last day, the MI captain Rohit Sharma said, “All eight teams are capable of beating each other. But the good thing is that KKR play before us, so we will know what to do.”
The Mumbai pacers powered the five-time champions’ win on Tuesday. Nathan Coulter Nile, Jasprit Bumrah and Jimmy Neesham shared nine wickets between them as Rajasthan Royals could manage only 90 runs in the first innings. MI’s Ishan Kishan then played a quick fire 50-run hand to seal the win.
“We had to come here and do what we had to do, which was to get the two points. It was a chance to improve our run rate as well. We got off to a flier, and we said there is a chance for us to up the run rate. It was the perfect game for us to do that.”
“Kishan is playing after a couple of games, so we wanted him to take his time. I didn’t say anything to him [after he played a maiden]. All we wanted for him was to play his shots, which he did. When you are under the radar, it is important to do your job,” Sharma said.
“We have been doing well and preparing well. All the bowlers came together and used the conditions well.”
A dejected Royals skipper Sanju Samson termed the Sharjah pitch difficult to bat on.
“It was a bit challenging wicket to bat on. It was tougher in the first innings. Coming from Abu Dhabi, playing in Sharjah was a massive difference. Can’t blame the batsmen a lot, but it was tough to bat in the first innings.
“Abu Dhabi had one of the best batting wickets, switching to Sharjah was tough.” He said that at this point, he is not able to figure out what went wrong.
“It’s a bit cloudy right now, we need to take some time off and then think about the next game.
“We would definitely like to play a better game of cricket in the next match. We knew that they’ll be coming strong, in the powerplay. They wanted to increase the run-rate. The wicket was a bit better than the first innings but they batted really well.”
