Rajasthan Royals sealed their playoff spot in style as they beat Mumbai Indians by 30 runs in the 69th match of the Indian Premier League. Rajasthan Royals were batting first and they lost a few wickets early. It was a struggle in the middle overs but they had excellent finish to the innings as they went past 205. Chasing the target, Mumbai Indians lost wickets early but a half century from Suryakumar Yadav and cameos from Hardik Pandya and Will Jacks kept the game close. Jofra Archer and Rajasthan bowlers were excellent in the death overs to pull off the win. Rajasthan Royals become the fourth team to qualify for the playoffs. They will face SRH in the Eliminator.
RR 205/8 (Jurel 38, Shardul 2/41)
MI 175/9 (Suryakumar Yadav 60, Archer 3/17)
Kumar Sangakkara | RR coach:
During the last timeout it was just about sticking to plans and holding your nerve. When you go to the back-end it's all about who responds better under pressure. All the bowlers did a brilliant job. And on the field we were pretty tidy. It's always guesswork isn't it (Archer's promotion while batting). It's great when it works and pretty ugly when it doesn't. We know what Jofra can do with the bat. Wanted him to go out there and take a bit of risk. And then let Ferreira and Dubey handle the later overs when the bowlers were tired in the sun. Unfortunately Donovan did get out but Jofra kicked on and then Jaddu coming in at the end with a bung elbow got us over the line. From where we were, looking at only 180, 206 was a fantastic effort. He has been like that in every single game (Archer being fired up). Very invested in the team, helping everyone. Has been our spearhead right from the start. Today, to see the way he bowled, but before that with the bat and really take us to the qualification, that was an exceptional effort from Jofra. Very proud of him. Yash has been an interesting choice for us. He's been with us in the nets for about 3 seasons. We picked him this year. Unfortunately Bishnoi has had to sit out a couple of games because of Yash. He's tall, has got good revs on the ball, turns his leg spinner and the googly. He's got a really calm demeanour under pressure. This is a good wicket to bat on but the way he bowled to those seasoned batters was outstanding. He'll just grow and improve but I just want him to stay calm and trust his skills. We don't pick age, we pick ability (when asked about the teenagers in their squad). We want players who can contribute now and all of the guys - young and old - have done a really good job to drag us to the qualification.
Hardik Pandya | MI captain:
I think 10-15 runs (more we gave with the ball). It was quite hot as well, bowlers did a pretty good job. It was chaseable, we just lost a lot of wickets in powerplay and then it was always a catch up game. When I went to bat it felt like it was coming on nicely. It played similar in both innings (the pitch). It was coming on the bat. Just had to hold your shape and play good cricketing shots. Death overs are always difficult and I always believe that if you can stop 1-2 boundaries in that 5-over bracket, you'll always be 12-15 runs short. Unfortunately we could not do that. 73 in the last 5 cost us the game as well. Everything is fine (when asked about the stretching he was doing). I bat, I bowl, I field, I skip, so it's okay, it's fair for me to have a game where I just batted and enjoyed as well
Riyan Parag | RR captain:
Obviously it's good when things go to plan. I know we've won the game, we've qualified, but a lot of areas that we can do better. Wanted the set batter to play a little longer (the move to have Jofra at 7, Jaddu at 9). We needed runs. It's a wicket where you can't have two players batting in the middle and going at a run a ball. Wanted one guy to take the initiative, take the risk. And the other guy could stay a little bit longer. And Jadeja is as reliable as always. I knew back-end he would get us at least 20 off 10 which he did. Have taken a lot of brave calls actually this season. That's how I like to lead. That's how I lead Assam as well. You got to take your chances, it's not a gamble. Of course you think about it a lot. I thought, Hardik - there's only one guy who can get him out and that is Jofra. That paid off well. Instincts always (instincts or numbers when taking decisions?). It's tough but all the credit to them (Brijesh and Yash Raj). I don't usually praise them so they don't get all bloated and stuff. But after tonight I think they deserve it. Brijesh - the way he's come back after getting a few games here and there, where he's gone for some runs in the last few overs. How he bowled today and how he's been bowling. And Punja, from a net bowler to his journey right now, being the lead spinner. Remarkable job. I hope they do it for another one game and then another two games. I'm definitely not fit. All of this was mental toughness. I was not supposed to play today. I was not supposed to play another game. Yeah yeah of course (will he play in playoffs?). Jofra's fine, he's strong as a rock. Jaddu bhai has some niggles here and there. But again, he's got the sword, he's a warrior, he'll be back. We should've qualified way earlier. Left it a little too late. Left a lot on the table. We're picking up the slack three games in a row. Hopefully we learn from all our mistakes and put up a better show.
Jofra Archer | Player of the Match:
It comes out by mistake (the gold chain). I always try to tuck it back in. Don't think it's my best year, I have bowled a little bit better than this. Every time you take the ball you just try to bowl good areas. Some days you're not going to get rewarded. Happy that we got rewarded on the day we needed to win. Just trying to get the ball in good areas (talking about the powerplay wickets). If you get hit for a boundary and it's a good ball, then fine. But you try to put the ball in the good areas. Coach's instructions - after the first two games I was trying to bowl slower balls. And he said, I don't care what you do, I don't want any more pace-off from you. I'm just listening to the coach now. Your margin for error is a bit bigger when you go pace-on. Sometimes you have to deal with a few edges, but more often than not it's the safer option. I wasn't expecting to bat so early. Because of the impact sub I hardly get to bat. When the coach said put the pads on, I was surprised. I'm glad I was able to contribute. Well I class myself an allrounder. I'm very good right now, touchwood (fitness wise).
