MUMBAI NEED A MIRACLE ON THE LAST DAY

Defending champions Mumbai Indians need nothing less than a miracle to qualify for the play-offs as Kolkata Knight Riders all but sealed a top four finish with an 86-run win over Rajasthan Royals yesterday in Sharjah. On the last day of group matches today, a double-header, the holders will need to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 171 runs — a permutation which borders on the impossible. The other game will see Delhi Daredevils squaring off against Royal Challengers Bangalore — as both matches will start simultaneously from 6pm UAE time for the first time in IPL history.

MI are sitting at the fifth spot with 12 points but their Net Run Rate is -0.048 while KKR boosted their’s to +0.587 after their victory yesterday. Mumbai Indians are likely to pay the price for a sluggish start to their second leg of IPL 2021. They lost three on the bounce but kept their hopes alive winning two out of their next three. They hammered Rajasthan Royals by a huge margin earlier this week to keep their hopes alive but they have been dented by KKR.