IPL 2018, Match 21, Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians: Match Prediction
The 21st match of the Indian Premier League will feature two sides who have not performed up to expectations this season. Both, the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians have suffered three defeats in the tournament so far, with the former winning two matches and the latter winning just one.
The Royals lost their previous match against the Chennai Super Kings by a huge margin after the Men in Yellow crossed the 200 run mark for the second time this season.They were no match for CSK during the chase and managed to score just 124 runs in the end.There were some questionable decisions by Ajinkya Rahane during the match with regards to the batting position of a few players and a few other tactical decision as well.
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They showed positive signs in the match against Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore, especially against the latter where they scored more than 200 runs, with Sanju Samson scoring 90 runs.
On the other, the Mumbai Indians finally opened their account against RCB after losing three extremely close-fought encounters.
Their batsmen finally came to the party as Rohit Sharma smashed 94 runs to take Mumbai to a huge total. Evin Lewis continued his good run of form and scored his first half-century of the tournament.
Their bowlers played performed well too against the hapless Bangalore side and did not allow them to come close to chasing the total down.
They will look to get their second win of the season and get back into their groove. They have usually been slow starters and this season has been no different.
Let's take a look at how the match might pan out:
If Rajasthan Royals bat first:
Predicted score: 170+
The Royals have an incredible record at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur having won almost all the matches they have played there. However, they lost the previous one quite comfortable against the Kolkata Knight Riders. We could expect to see Heinrich Klaasen continue to play in place of D'Arcy Short, who did not make much of an impact. Ajinkya Rahane performed well in a couple of matches and will hope to get his side off to a good start. We might even see Rahul Tripathi open the batting this time around. Seeing the previous matches, we could expect RR to score around 170 odd if they bat first.
If Mumbai Indians bat first:\
Predicted score: 180+
Suryakumar Yadav gave Mumbai the perfect start in their match against the Delhi Daredevils but got knocked out for a duck in the first delivery in the match against RCB. If he gets going along with Evin Lewis, who has been quite impressive so far, MI could get off to an explosive start. Rohit will look to carry on from where he left off in the previous match and get another big score under his name. If the Mumbai batsmen come to the party, we could expect a 200+ score for sure. However, I'm sticking to 180+ for now.
Final prediction:
With the momentum on Mumbai's side, I feel that they have what it takes to get over the line and get their second win of the season. The Royals bowling line-up has not delivered so far and Mumbai's batting just seems too strong.