IPL Match 45: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians Prediction and Preview

With their hopes of qualification dwindling fast, a loss now would extinguish Rajasthan Royals’ chances for this season altogether. Despite showing plenty of promise at times, the team just hasn’t bagged the wins necessary at a tournament of this caliber. Given their opponents for the next game, those chances don’t look too bright. Mumbai Indians have been excellent for the most part, and have all but ensured qualification already. With their recent trouncing of Chennai Super Kings, they are sitting pretty with almost twice the net run rate advantage as second-place Delhi Capitals. Nevertheless, they need this win to stay in the top two, and will be up against a desperate RR. While these two teams rev up for their race, let’s take a look at what’s under their hoods.

Rajasthan Royals Preview & Form

Their last possibility of a straightforward qualification gone, even if they win this, Rajasthan will be at the mercy of KKR’s possible mistakes. In their last match, that chance was taken from them by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Steven Smith’s men managed to rack up a conservative 154 through several small and average performances. In reply, the Sunrisers lost two quick wickets early on, but were solid as a rock after that as they finished the match without another wicket falling and with 1.5 overs remaining. If they are to make this work, they need their stars to step up and snatch this win by hook or crook. 

Mumbai Indians Preview & Form

Despite their somewhat shocking loss to Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai managed to bounce back against a pathetic CSK to take their seventh win of the season in style. Demolishing Dhoni’s squad with some incendiary bowling from Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rahul Chahar, Mumbai chased down their target of 115 without losing a single wicket and with 7.4 overs to spare, with Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan getting 46 and 68 respectively - both off 37 deliveries. Unless something untoward happens, even a standard performance by MI should be enough to best RR. 

RR vs MI Match Prediction

Rajasthan needs to draw confidence from the four wins out of the last five that they’ve had against Mumbai. Expect Jos Buttler and Steven Smith to strike clean, while Jofra Archer and Shreyas Gopal get some clean strikes. 

MI have a lot of skill in their ranks, and as long as some of their players fire, they should be fine. Expect Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan to be as destructive as they were last game, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult repeat their own devastating feats.

Can the Royals pull off an upset against the league leaders? Or will Mumbai prove to be just too damn strong? Find out on Sunday!