Jofra Archer carries RR into playoffs

Jofra Archer put in a late cameo with the bat (32 off 17) and then returned to shake up Mumbai Indians at both ends of their chase to drag Rajasthan Royals into the playoffs with a 30-run victory. The Riyan Parag-led side will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator clash on May 27.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 205/8 in 20 overs (Jofra Archer 32 off 15, Dhruv Jurel 38 off 26; Shardul Thakur 2-41) beat Mumbai Indians 175/9 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 60, Hardik Pandya 34; Jofra Archer 3-17, Brijesh Sharma 2-26) by 30 runs.

Every RR game is about what a 15-year-old kid will or will not do. But his 24-year-old opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal took charge. He tonked Deepak Chahar for two sixes and one off Will Jacks but MI ran through the top-order early. Jaiswal fell trying to maximise against Jacks, mistiming a big shot. Sooryavanshi found Naman Dhir at deep point, giving Chahar a wicket. AM Ghazanfar then lured Riyan Parag into a false shot, having him caught at long on. RR slumped to 54/3 in six overs.

MI refuse to let Shanaka, Jurel turn the tide

Dasun Shanaka and Dhruv Jurel got down to work. Shanaka got going with a massive six over long-on against Ghazanfar in the eighth over and repeated it vs Raghu Sharma in the next. He pulled one over fine leg against Shardul Thakur as RR got to the halfway stage at 94/3. But a mix-up between the two batters resulted in Shanaka's run out for a 15-ball 29. Jurel took 15 off Ghazanfar in the 12th over – a couple of exquisitely timed fours and a big six over square leg. But Corbin Bosch stopped him with an exceptional inswinging yorker that Jurel couldn't keep out. He walked off for a 26-ball 38.

A left-field Archer move that worked

RR had Ravindra Jadeja padded up as the impact player but Jofra Archer walked out at No.5. Archer batted alongside Donovan Ferreira, but Chahar used the slower bouncer well, and struck when Ferreira found deep mid-wicket in the 16th over. From here, Archer took over, smashing a six over long-off, then two more sixes – off Bosch over square leg and off Shardul over deep mid-wicket. He hit another four before being dismissed for a 15-ball 32 that pushed RR past the 200-run mark.

Archer wasn't done yet. He walked out and got Rohit Sharma to nick one behind for a duck in the opening over, then cleaned up Naman Dhir. Ryan Rickelton fell to Nandre Burger. In the last over of the Powerplay, Brijesh Sharma floored Tilak Varma's off-stump to keep RR's hopes up.

Suryakumar Yadav finds form; Will Jacks supports

The India captain attacked Ravindra Jadeja and Yash Raj Punja to collect sixes while Will Jacks chipped in to keep the chase going. Suryakumar had a stroke of luck when a delivery from Jadeja flew off the top-edge for a four. Jacks smashed a straight six off Yash Raj, but Dhruv Jurel pouched a good high catch to ease some worry lines for head coach Kumar Sangakkara. Hardik Pandya strutted out and turned that emotion around.

What did the MI captain do?

Hardik started by tonking two big sixes against Yash Raj. Dasun Shanaka was also taken to the cleaners, as 15 came off his over with Hardik peeling off two boundaries.

Archer to RR's rescue… again

Post the timeout, Parag brought back Archer for his final over in the 16th. Archer hurried Hardik with a bouncer and had him caught at long on. He gave away just three runs to leave MI chasing 56 off the last 24 deliveries. Yash Raj then bowled the 17th over, getting Bosch to hit one straight to square leg and giving only six runs.

Suryakumar suffered a slow-down after a flying start, and despite scoring a half-century, his exit in the 18th over all but sealed MI's fate. MI limped to 175/9 in 20 overs, falling 30 runs short.

MI are done for the season with an ignominious ninth-place finish. RR meanwhile will be Mullanpur-bound for the playoffs.