(Cricket news) Rajasthan need to win their remaining two matches against KKR and MI to stand a chance to qualify as they have their destiny in their own hands whereas Mumbai, even if they win their two matches they are not guarantee of a playoff spot because of an inferior net run rate and also need other results to go their way if they stand a chance to qualify. This is virtually a quarter final for both teams as it is a must win game for them.

MI are likely going to stick with the same playing XI for this match which means that Jayant Yadav will keep his place as an extra spinner in the line up especially when they are playing in Sharjah. Suryakumar Yadav needs to score some runs not for MI’s playoff chances but also to keep his place in the World T20 squad, same applies to Ishan Kishan as well. Rohit Sharma’s record against RR is not great as he has just managed 294 runs in 16 innings averaging 18.38 only, MI’s sake he too needs to score big if they stand a chance to qualify for the playoffs. Mumbai Indians will take encouragement as Trent Boult has dismissed Sanju Samson three times in only 23 balls conceding only 30 runs in the process.

Rajasthan Royals will also go in with an unchanged line up after they beat CSK comprehensively by chasing down 190 with ease. In the last match, their gamble of sending Shivam Dube up the order worked and the trend should continue. Evin Lewis has been a revelation up top as he has given his team blistering starts and has not let the camp feel the absence of Jos Buttler. The only area of concern for the RR camp is the inconsistency of the spinners, who need to up their game if they are to win the match. Rahul Tewatia needs to be used in the powerplay as his record against Rohit Sharma is quite commendable, he has managed only 3 runs in 8 balls and dismissed him once in the process.

Head to head: MI 12 – 11 RR, the last they played MI won by 7 wickets as Quinton De Kock was man of the match scoring 70(50)

Pitch and weather report: The games at Sharjah Cricket stadium have been unpredictable as the pitches have been on the slower side with the slower bowlers having joy in this venue. Four out of 6 matches the team batting second has won as today also the Captain winning the toss will most likely bowl first. The temperature will hover around 36 degrees with no chances of rain.

Interesting facts:

• MI have just managed to score at 6.11 rpo in the UAE leg against spinners
• Barring Rohit and De Kock no other batsman in the MI squad has managed to cross the 250 run mark
• RR have scored at a rate of 8.8 runs inside the powerplay the most in this seasons IPL
• Last year Trent Boult picked up 15 wickets in the powerplay in UAE but this year he hasn’t managed to take a single wicket in the powerplay in the UAE leg.

Also read: Avesh Khan leading the charge for Delhi Capitals in Indian Premier League

Probable XI for MI:

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Saurabh Tiwary, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 7 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 8 Jayant Yadav, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Trent Boult

Probable XI for RR:

1 Evin Lewis, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Akash Singh/Jaydev Unadkat, 9 Mayank Markande, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Chetan Sakariya