Rajsathan Royals seal IPL play-off spot as Jofra Archer shines in 30-run win over Mumbai Indians

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals beat Mumbai Indians by 30 runs to confirm their place in the play-offs in the IPL 2026 match played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. With this result, Rajasthan finished on 16 points and joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the knockout stage. Defeat to MI also ended their campaign as they finished ninth in the table.Rajasthan Royals batted first, 205 for eight. The innings was shaped by a late acceleration, 73 runs coming in the last five overs after a slow start earlier in the innings. Jofra Archer played a key role with the bat as well, scoring 32 off 15 balls, hitting three sixes and a four to lift the total to over 200. Other contributors included Yashasvi Jaiswal (27), Dhruv Jurel (38) and Dasun Shanaka (28). Ravindra Jadeja, who came in at No. 9, added three boundaries in the final overs to take the score further. Rajasthan’s start was mixed. They focused a lot on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top but Sooryavanshi soon dropped to 4th. Jaiswal looked in good touch during his short stay. He hit two big sixes off Chahar and also sent Will Jacks over long-off for another maximum, but his innings ended on 27 when he was caught on the leading edge of a fuller delivery. At 33 for two, Rajasthan were in trouble.Captain Riyan Parag failed to convert his start into a high score. He played some attacking blows but was dismissed in the sixth over after a mistimed shot was caught by AM Ghazanfar’s Tilak Varma (1/45). Dhruv Jurel also played a steady knock of 38 off 26 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes, but failed to fully accelerate the innings.Dasun Shanaka added to the power with a brisk 29 off 15 balls, including three sixes, but his innings ended due to a mix-up with Jurel in the 11th over. Despite losing wickets, Rajasthan managed to post a competitive total, helped by a late strike from Archer.In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 175 for nine. Their chase got off to a bad start as the top order soon collapsed. Rohit Sharma (0 off 4), Naman Dhir (6 off 5), Ryan Rickelton (12 off 7) and Tilak Varma (3 off 7) all got away cheaply and left MI under pressure.Suryakumar Yadav kept MI in the contest with a strong innings of 60 runs. He built two important partnerships, first adding 63 runs for the fourth wicket with Will Jacks (33) and later 48 runs with skipper Hardik Pandya (34 off 16 balls) for the sixth wicket. For a while it looked to MI that they might be chasing the target.However, Rajasthan gained control in the final overs of the match. Jofra Archer completed his spell with excellent figures of 3 for 17 in four overs, including the wicket of Hardik Pandya. Nandre Burger then removed Suryakumar Yadav, ending MI’s resistance.Suryakumar’s dismissal proved to be decisive as it ended Mumbai’s hopes. The Rajasthan bowling unit held their nerve to seal a comfortable win to book a place in the playoffs, knocking out Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in the process.