MI vs RR: Storm Jofra Archer pushes Rajasthan into playoffs, ousts PBKS and KKR

Brief Score: Rajasthan Royals (205/8 in 20 overs) beat Mumbai Indians (169 all-out in 19.1 overs) by xx runs. MI vs RR: Highlights | Scorecard

It felt like a day that was perfect to have one of Jofra Archer’s oracle tweets.

And Mumbai were done in the end as Archer put in an all-round performance to help Rajasthan Royals make it to the playoffs, knocking out Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders from the tournament. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a pair of Jofra tweers for them.

Archer scored 32 off 15 balls and finished with figures of three for 17 to come back to chase his former team. Mumbai were left at the bottom as they ended the season with a loss, their death bowling and powerplay batting.

Losing four wickets in the first six overs and conceding 73 in the last four eventually proved to be the difference for MI on the day.

ARCHER PAYING in Mumbai

Archer spent three seasons with Mumbai where he played just five games for them and was released. But he wanted to prove his worth as a Royal at the Wankhede on Sunday.

Jofra Archer came into the game like a house on fire with the ball, knowing his side needed him the most. The England pacer’s response was immediate and Rohit Sharma dismissed for a duck. It was the 19th time that Rohit had been dismissed without scoring any runs in his IPL career, the joint-highest by any player in the tournament.

MI’s familiar power-play problem this season came back to haunt them as Archer cleaned up Naman Dhir with a sensational delivery to send the home side reeling at 18 for two at the third break.

Once Ryan Rickleton succumbed to Nandra Burger and Tilak Varma bowled by Brijesh Sharma, things looked bleak for Mumbai, much like their season. They were 38 for four in 5.1 overs and by then Archer had run through his three overs.

There was a lot of talk about Suryakumar Yadav and if he was hiding his wrist injury. While he used to answer with his words, he let the bat do the talking in the middle.

It was a slow start that included him getting hit in the face by a low full toss that bounced off his bat onto the grill. But he seemed to get a kick out of it and Surya started taking down the RR spinners with ease.

He has been particularly tough on Jadeja, hitting him for several boundaries and has support from Will Jacks, who has also given the bowlers big hits.

The duo put on 63 runs off 38 balls but Jacks fell to Yash Raj Punia. That brought Hardik Pandya into the middle, with the run-rate already crossing 11 at that point.

The MI skipper looked to be in a different mood compared to some of his innings earlier in the season which was condemned for being slow and not meeting the demands of the team.

He started off with two Yash Raj sixes and then a couple of boundaries off Shanak to make the contest more interesting for the young kids at the stadium.

It looked like Hardik was just there looking to enjoy himself in the middle and skipping a bit, he pulled off a kung fu punch to put a smile on Rohit Sharma’s face.

Surya got to fifty and was a bit quiet but exploded into life with a boundary. 59 was needed in the last five overs as the game appeared to be on a knife edge.

Parag brought back Archer at this point, looking for a wicket to swing the game in their favour. And that’s what he did, he got the wicket of Hardik Pandya to bring RR back into the contest.

Suryakumar ended up fighting a lone battle when Yash Raj got Corbin Bosch. The spinner ensured that the over went for just five runs.

Surya’s wicket was the final nail in the coffin for Mumbai as RR edged closer to victory. The last three overs didn’t see much drama and everything was easily wrapped up and RR head to New Chandigarh to face SRH in the eliminator.

– The end

Published on:

May 24, 2026 7:52 PM IST

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