Jofra Archer powers RR into IPL playoffs with win over MI

Rajasthan Royals rode on Jofra Archer’s all-round brilliance to book the fourth and final play-off berth with a 30-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.

Archer returned with splendid figures of 4-0-17-3 after his 15-ball 32 helped Royals reach a fighting 205 for 8 after 20 overs.

It was 73 runs in the last five overs bowled by Mumbai Indians which proved to be decisive as Mumbai Indians could manage only 175 for 9 in 20 overs.

The victory lifted Rajasthan Royals to the fourth position in the IPL points table with 16 points, effectively knocking out Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, and even Delhi Capitals - latter two had slim outside chances.

Mumbai Indians’ reply was spruced with a timely half-century from Suryakumar Yadav — 60 off 42 balls with four sixes and three fours - as well as skipper Hardik Pandya’s 15-ball 34 and Will Jacks’ 33 off 18 balls.

But none of these efforts were enough to revive the five-time winners, who had slipped to 38 for four with Archer’s two-wicket burst at the start.

The collapse began when Archer produced a jaffa — a perfect outswinger which darted sharply away from Rohit Sharma (0) who went on a fishing expedition away from his body. The resultant edge settled into wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel’s gloves. 

Archer then got one to nip off the surface to hit the wickets and see the back of Naman Dhir (6) in the third over, but the body blow came for MI in the form of Ryan Rickelton’s (12) dismissal off Burger, who found Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at square leg.

A disappointing season had no different end for Tilak Varma with the bat when the India batter was undone by a Brijesh Sharma delivery which kept low while he attempted to flick it.

In a season marred by poor powerplay returns, Mumbai Indians had no respite in their final outing where they finished at 49 for four after six overs.

Suryakumar also rode his luck, getting two reprieves en route to his second half-century of the season.

Brijesh missed a run-out chance on either ends when both Ryan Rickelton and Suryakumar were caught in a mix-up with an awful throw, and then dropped a catch at mid-wicket when the MI batter on 27 off Yash Raj Punja in the eighth over.

Suryakumar and Jacks put on 63 for the fifth wicket in an impressive turnaround for the hosts, but it was Pandya’s dismissal off Archer in the 16th over - when MI were still in the chase - that shut them out of the game.

With 59 needed off 30 balls and Archer steaming in for his final over, MI could have opted against going after the English pacer but Pandya took the punt that fell flat.

A mis-hit ended Pandya’s quickfire innings during which he made animated gestures, while also sharp caught-and-bowled from Nandre Burger (2/43) of Suryakumar in the 18th over sealed the deal.

Earlier, Archer (32 off 15 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja’s (19 no off 11 balls) vital contributions late in the innings lifted Rajasthan Royals to an under-par 205 for eight on a benign wicket.

Needing a win in this contest to book the final berth in the IPL playoffs, RR added 73 runs in the last five overs to stage a late comeback after their specialist batters cut a sorry figure.

Archer smacked three sixes and a four to collect 32 off 15 balls while Jadeja, coming down at No 9, hit three boundaries in the last two overs to push the total beyond the 200-run mark.

All eyes were pinned on the explosive pair of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (4) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (27) but while teenager was dismissed cheaply, Jaiswal showed a lot of promise during his brief stay before Will Jacks outfoxed him.

Sooryavanshi went for a big swipe on the first ball and connected well, which looked a certain six off Deepak Chahar (2/43), but Will Jacks at deep extra cover pulled the ball in spectacularly from beyond the ropes.

As if that save had some cascading effect, Sooryavanshi failed to connect with rest of the deliveries he faced. Another wild slog off an outswinger from Chahar saw Sooryavanshi hitting high in the air towards backward point where Naman Dhir took a smart catch sprinting forward.

Sooryavanshi fell immediately after Jaiswal, who had made a flying start but paid the price of playing one shot too many.

Jaiswal hit a couple of towering sixes off Chahar and even showed impeccable movement to hit Jacks over long-off for his third six, but couldn’t prevent a leading edge off the MI spinner when he lured him with a fuller delivery.

In a spot of bother at 33 for two, Rajasthan neither counter-attacked nor managed any recovery. Skipper Riyan Parag failed to convert a start, while Jurel could not make a strong dent either.

Parag did well to put a few lose balls away for boundaries but just when he looked to impose himself on the game, a mis-hit resulted in a well executed bunny-hop catch from Tilak Varma off AM Ghazanfar (1/45) in the sixth over.

However it was Archer and Ravindra Jadeja, who used to long handle to a good effect which proved to be game-changer in the end.