Rajasthan Royals are currently placed third in the Indian Premier League points table. A win against Mumbai Indians would cement their spot but a loss may hurt their playoff prospects. Mumbai Indians lead head-to-heads 7-5 against Rajasthan. Follow live updates of the match here.
Rajasthan Royals host Mumbai Indians at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad. Follow live updates of the match here: (Live Scorecard | Text Commentary | Standings | Fixtures )
Their hopes of making the playoffs all but over, defending champions Mumbai Indians would look to upset the equations for Rajasthan Royals, who would be aiming to strengthen their position in top-four when the two sides face off in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad today.
Lying second from bottom in the points, Mumbai have won just three of their 10 matches and have hardly looked or played like the defending champions. One more loss and they are out of the playoffs race this year.
Rajasthan, on the other hand, are sitting pretty on third in the table after notching up seven wins. The inaugural champions have been performing as per the expectations with some little-known players as usual contributing massively to their success.
However, Rajasthan will go into the match after a loss against Chennai Super Kings, who exposed some of their batting frailties with incisive bowling.
Barring captain Shane Watson's half-century, none of their other top-half batsmen contributed significantly as Chennai managed to hold them to a low total before chasing it down rather easily.
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is yet to strike consistent form in the tournament, which has perhaps been a major reason for the team's failure this season.
On the bowling front, the two teams, clashing for the first time this year, are more or less evenly-matched.
Mumbai have a star pace ace in Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, who is third on the highest wicket-takers' list with 16 to his credit. Rajasthan do not have a famed player to boast of even though a 42-year-old Pravin Tambe has made quite a name for himself with his performance.
They brought unprecedented cheer to their supporters last year. The tale in the ongoing Indian Premier League though has been the exact opposite for defending champions Mumbai Indians. Seventh in the points table, the team has failed to mount a fight that would give fans a reason to smile like last year - a fact acknowledged by pacer Lasith Malinga.
"Things have not clicked this year. Our fans are wonderful and it hurts when we let them down," wrote Malinga in his column for national daily. (Read more )
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Michael Hussey, Pragyan Ojha, Corey Anderson, Praveen Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, CM Gautam, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade, Marchant de Lange, Krishmar Santokie, Ben Dunk, Pavan Suyal, Sushant Marathe, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal and Lendl Simmons.
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Brad Hodge, Steven Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Ben Cutting, Kane Richardson, Tim Southee, Unmukt Chand, Ankush Bains, Vikramjeet Malik, Rahul Tewatia, Ankit Sharma, Amit Mishra, Deepak Hooda, Rajat Bhatia, Kevon Cooper, Iqbal Abdulla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe, Karun Nair, Dishant Yagnik.
Story first published on: Monday, 19 May 2014 12:15
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