New Delhi, April 29: Defending champions Mumbai Indians would look for a change in their fortune with the change of venue as they take on Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Thursday (April 29).
The Rohit Sharma-led side will have its task cut out against Rajasthan Royals - who surprisingly have a good win record against MI in the last three years. The past record and the fact that Rajasthan are coming from a win would certainly be on the minds of MI players.
Mumbai are coming after suffering back-to-back two defeats in the Chennai leg and would be eager to make amends to start afresh at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
Sanju Samson, the losing captain: Surely, a few runs short, maybe around 20-25 runs short. We were going on nicely (with the bat), but didn't finish well. The bowlers have been doing their job well, but as batsmen, we need to get them a good score to defend. It was a good wicket, the ball was coming on nicely and they (MI) batted really well, as a team, we will need to score more runs as a batting group. Trust yourself, play positive and fearless cricket - that's all one should do.
It's all over! Pollard hits the winning boundary and Mumbai Indians register a convincing 7-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals at Kotla. Mumbai Indians have come on the winning track and the change of venue came in MI's favour.
Four! QDK welcomes Mustafizur Rahman with a boundary over mid-off and MI now require 5 runs to win.
16 runs leaked by Morris from his over. MI reach 163/3 in 18 overs.
Four leg byes... Unlucky... Four extra runs into MI's account.
Four! Now Pollard hits a boundary towards mid-on.
SIX!!! Chris Morris bowls his final over and Pollard welcomes him with a maximum over long-off.
After 17 overs, Mumbai Indians reach 147/3. 25 needed off 18 balls.
Wicket! Krunal Pandya (39) has been clean bowled by Mustafizur as he gets an edge and the ball hits the stumps. MI - 146/3 in 16.4 overs.
After 16 overs, Mumbai Indians reach 140/2, they need 32 off 24 balls. With plenty of wickets in hand, it is going to be a cakewalk for MI.
12 runs came from that over bowled by Tewatia.
SIX!! Krunal Pandya starts the new over with a bang as he hammers Tewatia for a biggie.
Dropped! Yashasvi Jaiswal fails to hold on to Quinton de Kock's uncontrolled shot at mid-off running backwards. Nevertheless, it was a brilliant effort from the youngster.
MI 111/2 after 13 overs. Royals need to pick up a wicket.
Four! Glorious drive from Krunal and he ends Unadkat's over with a boundary. MI - 106/2 in 12 overs.
FIFTY!!! Quinton de Kock has brought up his 15th IPL fifty and the first of this edition with a quick single off Unadkat. He's taken just 35 deliveries.
Mumbai Indians reach 97/2 after 11 overs.
Halfway through the innings and MI have reached 87/2.
Wicket! Suryakumar Yadav (16) is being caught by Jos Buttler. Chris Morris gets another breakthrough for his team. MI - 83/2 after 9.2 overs.
MI reach 83/1 after 9 overs.
Four! Short-pitched delivery from Unadkat and QDK guides it towards square-leg.
After 8 overs, Mumbai Indians reach 71/1. RR lost their DRS as well in that over as they went upstairs to review the LBW appeal against QDK. Ultra-edge confirmed the on-field umpire was right. There was an edge and the review lost.
Four! SKY cuts Mustafizur and the ball races towards third man region for a boundary. It was in the air for some time.
Four! Third boundary of the over and this time it was QDK who played a brilliant reverse sweep and gets a boundary. 14 runs came from that over. MI - 63/1 after 7 overs.
Four!! This time SKY cuts Tewatia and gets a boundary towards extra-cover and gets a boundary
Four! Inside-out shot from Suryakumar Yadav and he gets off the mark in style.
Wicket! Rohit Sharma gives a simple catch to Sakariya at mid-on and Morris gets the breakthrough RR were looking for. This was against the flow of the play. MI - 49/1 after 6 overs.
Four! QDK gets a boundary towards fine leg.
SIX!! Chris Morris is brought in the attack in the final over of the powerplay and QDK pulls him for a maximum.
Mumbai Indians reach 36/0 after 5 overs.
Led by young Sanju Samson, Rajasthan have been struggling with their form in the tournament. The team has won two out of five games and face the five-time champions in their next game. However, they are coming from a clinical 6-wicket over Kolkata Knight Riders. That will would give them a lot of confidence but defeating Mumbai would require a combined team effort from the Men In Pink.
The head-to-head between the two teams is interesting as both the teams have won an equal number of contests. Out of 23 matches played between these two teams, 11 have resulted in a winning cause and they've lost as many. Since IPL 2018, the Royals have defeated Mumbai in 5 games out of 6 and captain Samson would be looking to take inspiration from this record when he walks into the middle against MI.