IPL 2021, MI vs RR HIGHLIGHTS: Kishan, Coulter-Nile shine as Mumbai thumps Rajasthan, fifth on points table

MI vs RR, IPL 2021, HIGHLIGHTS: Follow the IPL score updates between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Ishan Kishan's 25-ball fifty led Mumbai to a resounding win.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's coverage of IPL 2021 Match 51 between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Rohit Sharma: "We had to come here and do what we had to do, which was to get the two points... It was a chance to improve our run rate as well. We got off to a flier, and we said there is a chance for us to up the run rate. It was the perfect game for us to do that. Kishan is playing after a couple of games, so we wanted him to take his time. I didn't say anything to him (after he played a maiden). All we wanted for him was to play his shots, which is what he did... When you are under the radar, it is important to do your job. We have been doing well and preparing well. All the bowlers came together and used the conditions well. (On playing Sunrisers last) All eight teams are capable of beating each other. But the good thing is that KKR play before us, so we know what to do."

Nathan Coulter-Nile, POTM : "Just trying to keep simple. It was a hard wicket to bat on. I'm not fussed about when I come to bowl. There are world class bowlers in our side and hope they can pick a few more and I will have my job easier."

Ishan Kishan : "Obviously it's nice to be back opening and getting the runs. It is a very nice feeling. We fielded first and got a good idea of the wicket... We also knew that the ball wasn't coming that well. The plan was simple to play in the V. Ups and downs are a big part of sportsmen's [lives]. I had a chat with Virat 

bhai  and Hardik 

bhai , and also KP [Pollard]. That gave me confidence. What we have to do is be prepared for the next match, and play with the same energy as today."

 

Sanju Samson : "It was a challenging wicket to bat on, and coming to play in Sharjah was tough. Abu Dhabi was one of the best wickets we played on for batting. It's a bit tough and cloudy in the mind right now. But definitely we will like to play better cricket from the next game. The pitch was a bit better in the second innings."

That's how the mid-table standings look after the game!

olkata Knight Riders	13	6	7	12	0.294
Mumbai Indians	13	6	7	12	-0.048
	13	5	8	10	-0.241
Rajasthan Royals	13	5	8	10	-0.737

MI 94/2 in 8.2 overs: And he tonks it over mid-wicket for six to finish! Chase done and dusted in 50 balls! Ishan Kishan gets to his fifty in some style!

MI 84/2 in 8 overs: Kishan pounces on Sakariya! He's back in element, certainly. Sakariya oversteps twice and his second free-hit finds itself on the top of the mid-wicket stands. Kishan pummels it with some power. He whips another one over long-on and MI are seven away from a huge win!

MI 60/2 in 7 overs: Kuldip attacks the stumps. A brief lull for MI's plans as Hardik and Kishan tread in singles. Four runs from the over.

Kuldip is back

MI 56/2 in 6 overs: Mustafizur to SKY. OUT! SKY perishes for the cause. He aims to sustain the attack but the wily Fizz gets his man. He hits the deck sharply as Suryakumar aims to loft it over him. The ball climbs on the blade and lobs straight up. Easy catch for cover. Hardik's the new man . Mumbai in no mood to cut down on the momentum.  Suryakumar Yadav c sub (MK Lomror) b Mustafizur Rahman 13 (8b 3x4)

MI 48/1 in 5 overs: Carnage from Mumbai! Kishan whips the debutant for two boundaries on the on-side before an outside-edge helps SKY find another boundary.

Kuldip Yadav, the debutant, into the attack

MI 34/1 in 4 overs: Sakariya to Rohit. OUT! Slaps straight to cover.  The deceptive slower-one dislodges the skipper. Rohit attempts to flake the off-side boundary once again and goes for the drive. The slower-ball sits up on aim and induces a mistimed stroke. Suryakumar in at 3. He begins in style with a trademark flick behind square for four. He pushes a single through cover. Kishan finishes the over with his first boundary. A stellar backfoot punch through cover for four. MI making its intentions clear.  Rohit Sharma c Jaiswal b Sakariya 22 (13b 1x4 2x6)

MI 23/0 in 3 overs: Massive escape for Rohit as Samson misses a stumping opportunity! Rohit greets Gopal's fuller ball for a sweep over midwicket for six. Gopal instantly loops it in full as Rohit dances down next ball. He misses it altogether and Samson fumbles with a clear chance. Rohit slides back in and escapes.

Rohit Sharma hits 400 T20 sixes - the first Indian to the feat!

Shreyas Gopal replaces Fizz

MI 14/0 in 2 overs: Maiden over for Sakariya! Kishan fails to open his account as Sakariya keeps it tight on the stumps while fiddling with the length. A couple of drives fall to cover and Kishan fails to sneak in a single.

Sakariya from the opposite end

MI 14/0 in 1 over: Hitman unleashed! Mustafizur gets a massive pounding to start off. Rohit picks the slower one off the third ball, waits for it and slams it through cover for four. He follows it up with a stupendous lofted stroke for six down the ground. He's in majestic touch.  Rohit laces midwicket and extra cover with two more beautiful strokes to find four runs.

Mustafizur into the attack.

Back for the chase! Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan at the middle for MI.

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RR 90/9 in 20 overs: One final flourish for RR as Mustafizur smokes Boult for a big six over long-on. But this has been exemplary stuff from Rohit's boys. They need 91 runs in 20 overs. MI will aim to finish this as quickly as possible to boost their chances.

Boult for the final over.

RR 83/9 in 19 overs: Coulter-Nile to Sakariya. OUT! Cleans up the stumps once again! Sakariya creates room by moving away from the stumps against a searing NCN. Bad move to say the least. Coulter-Nile obliges and clips away with the stumps. Sensational effort from Coulter-Nile. He finishes with 4-0-14-4!   Chetan Sakariya b Coulter-Nile 6 (11b 1x4)

RR 78/8 in 18 overs: Bumrah grills Sakariya and Kuldip as he fires the ball in the blockhole. They do just about enough to wade out of trouble and finds two runs.

RR 76/8 in 17 overs: NCN to Miller. Gets him plumb in front. Absolute shambles for RR in Sharjah.  Coulter-Nile comes around the wicket and rolls his fingers over the ball off the last second. Miller misses it altogether as it slides in smacks the front-pad. No hesitations there and Rajasthan's faint hopes of a resurgence has fallen flat. David Miller lbw b Coulter-Nile 15 (23b)

Coulter-Nile returns

RR 74/7 in 16 overs: Bumrah to Gopal. OUT! There's the edge and there goes another. A first-ball duck for Gopal. Bumrah lures him to play forward as he deftly puts the ball in the channel. Gopal goes for the drive and the outside-edge flies sharply to Kishan who takes a fine low catch.  Shreyas Gopal c Ishan Kishan b Bumrah 0(1b)

Bumrah up for his last spell

RR 71/6 in 15 overs: Neesham to Tewatia. OUT! Another edge and gone! Tewatia's misery is over. Neesham rolls in a slower bouncer and Tewatia attempts to heave it across. Absolutely no timing on it and a faint top-edge sails to Kishan.  A tame dismissal in the end.  Rahul Tewatia c †Ishan Kishan b Neesham 12 (20b)

RR 67/5 in 14 overs: A drab over this. Pollard takes an eternity to stroll in and the batters continue to struggle to break the shackels. Singles all the way at the moment.

Pollard to resume after the break.

RR 62/5 in 13 overs: Boult returns to the attack and continues to attack the stumps. Tewatia and Miller are short on options at the moment. They work around the field and keep the scoreboard ticking with a few singles. TIMEOUT.

RR 56/5 in 12 overs: Excellent over again for MI. Jayant tightens his length and pins the left-handed pair on the backfoot. Miller and Tewatia find a single apiece and the pressure continues to mount on RR. Mumbai giving nothing away.

Jayant replaces NCN

RR 54/5 in 11 overs: Some spell this from Neesham. He cramps Tewatia and Miller for room. They nudge about the inner-circle and finds a couple of singles.

RR 50/5 in 10 overs: NCN to Phillips. OUT! Bowled him, through his legs! Coulter-Nile's nip-backer nutmegs Phillips there. He attempts to swivel and flick the incoming delivery to square leg and makes an absolute mess of it. RR are in tatters and MI could now aim towards setting up a big win to boost its playoffs hopes. Glenn Phillips b Coulter-Nile 4 (13b)

Coulter-Nile is back

RR 49/4 in 9 overs: Neesham to Dube. OUT! He chops it onto the stumps! A juicy, overpitched delivery outside the off-stump. Dube has a wry push at it away from his body and gets an inside-edge on the ball. Bowled! What a start for Neesham and MI here.  Shivam Dube b Neesham 3 (8b)

RR 47/3 in 8 overs: Pollard takes of the pace off the deck completely and keeps a straight line of attack. Dube and Phillips are forced to play straight and they find four singles in the over. MI doing well to apply pressure on the new pair.

Pollard up with the ball

RR 43/3 in 7 overs: Neesham to Samson. OUT! Slices it straight to point! Jimmy's golden arm strike first ball. Neesham drills the ball in a fine line outside the off-stump. He finds some extra bounce as Samson attempts to cut it behind point. The ball clips the thickish outside-edge and flies straight to Jayant who takes a sharp catch at point. Phillips and Dube find them in the middle all of a sudden with a hefty job on their shoulders. Sanju Samson c J Yadav b Neesham 3 (6b)

Jimmy Neesham into the attack

RR 41/2 in 6 overs: Bumrah to Lewis. OUT! That's plumb! Lewis is undone by the tacky wicket here. Bumrah keeps the ball short as he slides it in. The pull was a fine option and Lewis goes for a strong heave. The ball pitches short and keeps low and it hits flush on the pads. Lewis and Samson go up for the review, only to have three reds flashing on the replays. Evin Lewis lbw b Bumrah 24 (19b 3x4 1x6)

RR 37/1 in 5 overs: Excellent from Boult. He pins Lewis and Samson on the back-foot with some short stuff. Boult switches around the wicket to Samson who leans forward to defend. Just the five runs in the over.

Boult is back

RR 32/1 in 4 overs: Coulter-Nile to Jaiswal. OUT! A nick and taken by Kishan! Excellent hit the deck bowling from Coulter-Nile. He pins it short and wide. Jaiswal plays a loose cut away from his body and the ball clips the under-edge before it passes to Kishan. Samson comes in. He's off the mark with a single behind point. NCN comes around the wicket and pushes the ball into Lewis. Outside-edge and it beats short third before racing to the boundary. Yashasvi Jaiswal c †Ishan Kishan b Coulter-Nile 12 (9b 3x4)

Coulter-Nile into the attack

RR 26/0 in 3 overs: Lewis greets Bumrah with a sumptuous drive down the ground. He beats the diving mid-off fielder and finds the fence. Bumrah does well to keep the runs under check as he mixes up his pace to follow up. Lewis finds a single before Jaiswal struggles to get past the mid-wicket fielder.

Bumrah replaces Boult

RR 21/0 in 2 overs: Fiery start once again!  Lewis tonks Jayant's gentle floater down the ground for a massive six. He exchanges strike. Jayant slides one into Jaiswal who lofts it over mid-on for a boundary. Jayant continues to bowl on a similar line and this time Jaiswal efficiently makes room on the off-side and creams the ball for a gorgeous boundary through extra-cover.

Jayant Yadav from the opposite end

RR 6/0 in 1 over: Yashasvi off the mark in style! Boult begins with some probing out-swingers to Lewis. He finally gets a single off the fourth bowl. Boult bumps one in to Yashasvi first ball. He picks it up in a flash and slams behind mid-wicket for four. Boult fires in the ball to Jaiswal off the last ball and it clips his pads and falls to short fine. Jaiswal is in pain and gets some treatment. Lewis too is in some discomfort.

Trent Boult up with the new ball

Rohit Sharma's men have one final pep talk before moving in. Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal walk to the middle for RR.

Game on, folks! Big night in the road to the playoffs!

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So, in its do-or-die encounter, Mumbai opts for an extra seaming all-rounder in Jimmy Neesham. Certainly, lifting the power down the order, a big match for Jimmy to return. He had scored a first-ball duck in his debut for MI (vs CSK in the first leg). de Kock has been dropped too for the return of Kishan. Wonder what happened there. Perhaps the inclusion of Neesham was more important for the side tonight. Meanwhile, RR continues to roll in the left-arm seamers as Kuldip Yadav makes his IPL debut. Shreyas Gopal returns and that looks like a direct ploy to exploit Rohit's weakness against leg-spin.

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w) , Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jimmy Neesham , Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

Rajasthan Royals   (Playing XI) : Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Kuldip Yadav , Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya

Toss: MI won the toss, opts to bowl first Rohit Sharma:  We are going to bowl first. We have tried everything in this UAE leg. The wicket doesn't change too much, so we thought having a target in front of us when we bat. We know where we stand at the moment. Every individual knows what to do. It's about coming here and executing. We need to read situations, not to worry about the table, if we play well the results will take care of itself. Two changes: Ishan comes back for de Kock and Neesham from Krunal. Sanju Samson:  We face different challenges in each game. We have a decent combination which can suit this wicket. Looking forward to an exciting game. We have to keep it simple, will have to trust ourselves. We have made two changes.

 

TOSS TIME!

6:52PM IST: A serious MI huddle chat taking place ahead of the toss. Their fielding coach James Pamment leads the chat. Quite obvious given their fielding standards this season. MI has dropped the most catches so far this season (17).

Pitch Report by Kartik Murali :  The pitch we are using has been used on two previous occasions, both times the team batting second has won. First one was the RCB-CSK game where 156 was chased and then recently the DC vs MI game. The surface has got a bit of sheen, not the old Sharjah sheen. Run-scoring has been tough, it does look dark and patchy. Don't think run-scoring is going to be easy. Anyone winning the toss is going to bat second

Nathan Coulter-Nile : Obviously not going the way we wanted to. Not sure if it's about one batter, one bowler. We just haven't clicked as a unit. We are still trying out different things till we get that right and hopefully we get it right today. I knew he was going to use may pace around the corner. I have moved fine leg and left it open. It was a bit of a gamble. He'd hit me for four or I get him out. I knew it would be a bit up and down. He played around one which was lucky for me and I think that was the first time I got him in my life, so it's a nice feeling. We have change-room player of the match, they give out a couple of them every game. Preps has been good, we have been training. quick turnaround. Just about getting what you need to and get out. There's not too much hanging around in training and stuff like that. Few of the boys have played a fair amount now on this wicket and we should be good to go.

6:30PM IST: RR close to landing a knockout punch for the defending champion. A loss will put MI out of the playoffs race.

Can Sanju Samson and Co. pull off another stunner at Sharjah?

 

5:50PM IST: Numbers Game

Rohit Sharma is two sixes away from becoming the first Indian batter to hit 400 T20 sixes. Rohit's average against RR - 22.91 - his lowest against any opposition in the IPL Rohit batting stats at Sharjah: 4 innings, 21 runs Sanju Samson vs Trent Boult: Three dismissals in 23 balls

5:35PM IST: MI vs RR Head to Head stats

Span - 2008-2021 Matches: 25 Won: RR-12, MI-13 HS (RR) vs MI- 208 LS (RR) vs MI- 95 HS (MI) vs RR- 212 LS (MI) vs RR- 92

 

Match Preview

It is a nail-biting time at the Indian Premier League (IPL) for most of the teams. Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals will fight for the last playoffs spot in Sharjah on Tuesday.

Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore have already qualified for the playoffs. 

RR and MI are still in contention. So are Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings; the latter, though, is the worst-placed among the contenders as it is on 10 points with just a game in hand.

For MI, the tournament’s most successful team with five titles, this has been a season of disappointment. Rohit Sharma’s men could still dream of an unprecedented hat-trick of trophies, but they cannot afford to wait any longer to get their act together.

FOLLOW:

RR is in a familiar situation. It will hope to cross the line this time around.

MI needs special performances from its match-winners such as Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.

The Royals may have been handicapped in the second phase by the absence of three of their biggest match-winners, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer, but they could take heart from the way Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, Evin Lewis and skipper Sanju Samson chased down a formidable target set by CSK in their last match.

ALL TIME STAR PERFORMERS (MI vs RR)

Rank	Best Batsmen	Team	Runs Scored
1.	Sanju Samson	RR	527
2.	Ajinkya Rahane	MI (2008-2010) RR (2011-2015)	409
3.	Kieron Pollard	MI	373
Rank	Best Bowlers	Team	Wickets Taken
1.	Dhawal Kulkarni	MI (2008-13, 2020-) Rajasthan Royals (2014-15)	17
2.	Kieron Pollard	MI	15
3.	Harbhajan Singh	MI	14

PREDICTED XIs

Mumbai Predicted XI:  Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

Rajasthan Predicted XI: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Akash Singh/Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

Squads

Rajasthan Royals   Squad : Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Akash Singh, Mayank Markande, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, Jaydev Unadkat, Chris Morris, Manan Vohra, Shreyas Gopal, Liam Livingstone, Tabraiz Shamsi, KC Cariappa, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Riyan Parag, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, Gerald Coetzee, Kuldip Yadav Mumbai Indians   Squad : Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, James Neesham, Anukul Roy, Ishan Kishan, Chris Lynn, Adam Milne, Aditya Tare, Piyush Chawla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Roosh Kalaria, Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Chahar, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh, Simarjeet Singh

 

AT WHAT TIME DOES TODAY'S IPL 2021 MATCH - MI vs RR START?

The IPL 2021 match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals begins at 7:30 PM IST.

WHERE TO WATCH TODAY'S IPL MATCH - MI vs RR LIVE? IPL 2021 will be aired live on Star Sports channels - Star Sports 1 , Star Sports 1 HD , Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD . It will also be streamed live on Disney+Hotstar . You can also follow the live commentary and latest updates from IPL 2021 on Sportstar .