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The match no. 44 of the Indian Premier League 2022 will witness a clash between second-placed Rajasthan Royals and bottom-placed Mumbai Indians. The two teams will face off for the second time in this season when they meet at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on April 30.
The Sanju Samson-led side have been sensational recently, having accumulated 12 points from eight games with a very good net run-rate of 0.561 and having won six matches and lost two. In their most recent fixture, they clinched a victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore by 29 runs in Pune.
The big guns such as Samson, Jos Buttler, and Shimron Hetmyer failed on the day, but their young gun Riyan Parag stepped up with a magnificent 31-ball 56* to take the side to a competitive total of 144/8. The RR bowlers were excellent while defending the target, with Kuldeep Sen picking four for 20 and R Ashwin claiming three for 17. Prasidh Krishna also took two for 23 as they bowled out RCB for just 115.
MI have had a forgettable season as they sit at the 10th place. Rohit Sharma’s men have failed to win a single game in eight attempts in IPL 2022 after being in winnable positions in several matches. Their most recent fixture was a 36-run loss at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants at Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai conceded the third individual hundred of the season as KL Rahul took a full toll on the bowlers with an unbeaten 103 and took the side to 168/6. Chasing the target, Rohit showed some form with 39 off 31 while Tilak Varma scored 38 off 27, but they were always behind the required rate and eventually could only reach 132/8.
RR had defeated MI by 23 runs in their earlier clash in the season, where Buttler hammered a hundred. MI will be hoping to break their losing streak with a payback to the Royals on Saturday.
Key players
The best T20 batter in the world, Jos Buttler is leading the batting charts in IPL 2022 with 499 runs in eight innings at an average of 71 while striking at an incredible 159. The Englishman has smashed three hundreds and two fifties in the season. Overall, Buttler has 2467 runs in the league at an average of 39 and strike rate of 152. He averages 80 against MI and has scored a hundred in the previous clash.
Yuzvendra Chahal is amongst the best spinners in white-ball cricket and he has been in sensational form in the ongoing IPL 2022. He has claimed 18 wickets in eight matches at an average of 12.61, including one five-for and a four-for. In his overall IPL career, he has taken 157 wickets from 121 games at an economy of 7.54 rpo. The player had turned the game in RR’s favour, picking two wickets in an over the last time these two teams met.
Sanju Samson has brought consistency to his natural attacking game and has been valuable for Rajasthan in the last couple of seasons.
The right hand batter has scored 1870 runs in the IPL since 2018 at an average of 33 while striking at 146. He has looked good in the IPL 2022, scoring 228 runs at a strike rate of 167 with one fifty.
Suryakumar Yadav is probably going through his peak and he looks in great touch every time he’s in the middle.
He has done well for MI in the last few years, scoring 1972 runs since 2018 at an average of 34 while striking at 139. SKY has been terrific in the ongoing IPL 2022, smashing 239 runs in six innings at an average of 48 average and strike rate of 151, including two fifties.
Prediction
H2H: MI have a slight edge with 14 wins compared to 13 by RR. MI lead the scoreline by 3-2 in the last three games as well.
The Royals have a strong batting unit comprising Buttler, Samson, Hetmyer, and Parag’s return to form is great news for the team. RR have a fantastic spin bowling duo of Chahal and Ashwin. Krishna has exceeded the expectations, while Sen has been impressive. Trent Boult remains potent with the new ball.
Mumbai Indians are in a bit of a mess when it comes to their playing combination. Their openers are in awful form, while the lower middle order hasn’t been able to fire either. Yadav and Varma have done well in the middle order. Their bowling attack, barring Jasprit Bumrah, is tragic, to say the least.
The Royals are a much stronger side on paper and are in form, expect them to come out on top in this fixture on Saturday evening.
