IPL 2018: Match 21, RR vs MI: Battle to rise up the ranks for both teams

The match will be played at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.

Both captains need to fire for their teams.

Placed sixth and seventh on the points table respectively, both Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians have lost three games each coming into this contest. 

For both teams, combinations just doesn't seem to work as of now and they are still struggling to find the right combination. 

Rajasthan seems to be struggling more than Mumbai with their top order. Klassen failed in his first outing, replacing D'Arcy Short who looked out of sorts in the games that he has played. 

The bowling too looks weak and feeble. Jaydev Unadkat is yet to prove his price tag while RR is still missing Jofra Archer. Ben Laughlin has looked the best of the bowlers but has failed to get the support from the other end. 

No such worries for Mumbai Indians who have seen runs come at some stage from their top five batsmen, while the bowling hasn't been too bad. That they've looked in good touch overall despite minimal contributions from the likes of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard shows their overall strength. Small margins in their losses have resulted in Mumbai Indians still having a positive net run-rate.

However, what keeps both teams on the same page is their need to win matches and tonight's game provides them an ideal opportunity to go one above the other. 

As far as team changes from both camps are concerned, Jofra Archer is yet to get fit and will not be in contention for the game as Dhawal Kulkarni is in line to make it to the XI. For Mumbai, as per latest reports, there is no news of any team change from the last game. Ishan Kishan, who walked off after sustaining an injury near the eye, has resumed practice and is likely to be passed fit for the match. 

Toss 

Mumbai Indians have won the toss and have opted to bat

Playing XI

Mumbai Indians : Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Heinrich Klaasen, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Rahul Tripathi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 22 Apr, 2018

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