It’s the Rajasthan Royals facing the Mumbai Indians in match 45 in Dubai. Here’s the analysis.
The SWOT for RR
Strengths: Jofra Archer has been the team’s strike weapon. Unfortunately, he has not received support from the others. His skills also haven’t been utilised properly. Steve Smith has taken him out of the attack when RR needed wickets. Archer’s full potential has not been tapped.
Weaknesses: The batting has been a let-down. Sanju Samson and Steve Smith have lost their initial form. The runs haven’t flowed for Robin Uthappa either. And the idea of opening the innings with Ben Stokes hasn’t worked out.
Opportunities: RR could be the next team to exit the tournament after CSK. They should do what they can to delay that departure.
Threats: It will be incredibly difficult to overcome an MI team who are playing at their best.
The SWOT for MI
Strengths: They have the best bowling attack in the league with Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, James Pattinson and Rahul Chahar who have all taken wickets at will. Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard have bowled tight overs whenever needed.
Weaknesses: There’s no apparent weakness. They have performed superbly in all three departments of the game and it reflects in their first place position on the points table.
Opportunities: They will want to be the first team to reach the play-offs. They’ve knocked CSK out of the tournament and now, they can push RR out as well.
Threats: Skipper Rohit Sharma’s injury is a worry. Pollard captained well in his absence but MI need Rohit to be fit and firing. They would hope that he recovers before the play-offs.
Head to head:
Matches played: 24
Rajasthan Royals: 11
Mumbai Indians: 12
No result: 1
Last five matches (most recent first):
Rajasthan Royals: L-W-L-L-W
Mumbai Indians: W-L-W-W-W
What happened in the reverse fixture?
Suryakumar Yadav starred with 79 from 47 balls and Bumrah grabbed four wickets for MI to get a comprehensive victory by 57 runs.
Deccan Herald’s Dream XI
Ishan Kishan, Robin Uthappa, Suryakumar Yadav, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah
Team news
No injuries reported from the RR camp. There’s no update as of now on Rohit Sharma’s hamstring injury. We need to wait and see if he takes the field.
Ground conditions
The sky will be hazy with the temperature around 26 degrees Celsius. The humidity will be about 61% with winds in the evening.
Impact player for RR
Jofra Archer: The English pacer has got 15 wickets so far. He picks up early wickets and bowls tight overs. When Archer is at his best, he can be almost unplayable.
Impact player for MI
Quinton de Kock: After a slow start to the season, he has come to life in the last few matches. He is the team’s leading run-scorer with 368 runs, which includes four fifties. He has made sure that MI get a fast start in every match.
How to watch
The match will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network. Viewers can also catch the action online on Disney+Hotstar. The match begins at 7.30 PM IST.
