MI look to maintain form against Royals

HEAD TO HEAD

Having finally found the winning touch, Mumbai Indians will look to continue in similar vein when they lock horns with beleaguered hosts Rajasthan Royals here on Sunday.

Two-time champions Mumbai Indians were off to a horrible start this season, suffering three successive reverses, before skipper Rohit Sharma came to the team’s rescue with a blazing 94 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The 46-run drubbing of RCB has raised the morale of the players, and Mumbai Indians are seeking a similar outing against Rajasthan Royals, at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.

Rohit was the reason behind the team breaking the run of losses and he is again going to be a key man for Mumbai Indians. West Indian Evin Lewis played his part with the bat, scoring 65, and then there are the likes of Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers - Hardik and Krunal.

That Pollard has recovered from an injury is definitely good news for MI.

Another positive development is Hardik’s 5-ball 17 the other night.

MI’s bowlers too are feeling confident after they were able to withstand the fire power of the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

Led by India seamer Jasprit Bumrah, the Mumbai Indians bowling attack looks good with MJ Mclenaghan, Hardik, Mustafizur Rehman, M Markande and Krunal.

The visitors are currently placed sixth with two points, having lost three of their four matches, but the situation is not new for the visitors as they have effected dramatic turnarounds in the past.

The hosts, on the other hand, were demoralised by Shane Watson’s belligerent century last night and they have very little time to recover from the massive defeat against Chennai Super Kings.

Captain Ajinkya Rahane will need to lead by example and inspire confidence in his players, besides making optimum utilisation of his meagre resources.

Sanju Samson lit up the campaign with his 94 in one of the games, but the rest need to deliver.

JAIPUR:

Mumbai Indians won Rajasthan Royals won Total matches Mumbai Indians face Rajasthan Royals for the first time in almost three years.

They recorded an eight-run victory over Rajasthan Royals when two teams met last time at Mumbai on May 1, 2015.

After making 178 in first three matches, Sanju Samson scored just nine runs in two previous matches.