Cricket
Match Preview – RR vs MI 38th Match, IPL
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Match details
Rajasthan Royals (P7 W6 L1; 1st) vs Mumbai Indians (P7 W3 L4; 7th)
Jaipur, 1930 IST (2pm GMT)
Big picture – Mumbai bowlers need to chip in
However, barring the two seamers, Mumbai’s bowling has disappointing. Their overall economy of 10.11 is the third worst among the teams and they average 31.67 with the ball.
Hardik Pandya and Akash Madhwal bowled in five games, both conceding more than 11 runs an over for a combined nine wickets. Shreyas Gopal replaced Piyush Chawla in the spin department, but has not found his feet yet. The under-utilisation of Mohammed Nabi has also hurt Mumbai – the Afghan spinner has bowled just six overs in four matches, with no wickets to show.
On paper, Royals start as favourites and would look to end their final game in Jaipur on a high.
Form guide
Rajasthan Royals WWLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WLWWL
Previous meeting
Team news and impact player strategy
Rajasthan Royals
One of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Jos Buttler will sub out when the team is bowling, with seamer Kuldeep Sen coming in as an impact player. It is still not clear if Sandeep Sharma will be available for the game.
Probable XII 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Kuldeep Sen, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal.
Mumbai Indians
Since Suryakumar Yadav’s comeback from injury, he has been used as an impact sub, with seamer Akash Madhwal replacing him when the team bowls. Mumbai could continue with the same approach in Jaipur also.
Probable XII 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Tim David, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Shreyas Gopal, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Gerald Coetzee, 12 Akash Madhwal
In the spotlight – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gerald Coetzee
Yashasvi Jaiswal had an impressive season in the IPL last year, scoring 625 runs at an average of 48.07 and a strike rate of 163.61. More than half of those runs came inside the powerplay where he scored 361 runs. However, in this IPL, he has been going through a lean patch, having scored 121 runs at an average of 17.28 and a strike rate of 145.78. Though Parag, Samson and Buttler have shouldered the bulk of the responsibility in batting, Royals would hope Jaiswal gets his mojo back.
Gerald Coetzee has ramped up his performance in the recent times, to be the second highest wicket-taker for Mumbai behind Bumrah, with 12 scalps. In an otherwise misfiring bowling unit, Mumbai will depend on him and Bumrah to keep Royals at bay.
Stats that matter
Pitch and conditions
Sawai Mansingh Stadium has hosted four games so far and when Royals had batted first in three of those, they posted scores of 193, 185, 196. It has been a batting-friendly venue with some assistance for spinners. The final game in Jaipur is also expected to be a high-scoring one.
Srinidhi Ramanujam is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
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