Mumbai Indians vs Rajathan Royals: The potential decider for the last play-off spot

Last year they were playing in the final of the IPL 6. This year one team out of Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals will bow out of the IPL T20 tournament tonight. In what promises to be a potential decider   as to who joins Kings XI Punjab, KKR and CSK in the final four of this year’s IPL.

For the defending champions, the equation is simple: a must-win but even a win might not be enough as they need to inflict a huge defeat on the RR to make up for their inferior net run rate. For RR, a simple win would be enough and would progress even if they are defeated albeit by a close margin.

Starting their title defense in the worst possible way with five consecutive defeats, Mumbai Indians have finally found some rhythm with three wins in the last three matches and with another convincing win they might pull-off something special tonight. For this to happen they have to be in their elements tonight with both their batting and bowling need to click together. They are a batting heavy line-up with Lendl Simmons and Michael Hussey along with Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard needs to step up for the occasion. The bowling has been inconsistent so far and they need to produce an improved performance to dismantle the RR line-up.

As for RR, poised to join the play-off with two matches to spare, suddenly everything seems to have gone westward at the most crucial time with their batsmen failing to show any kind of form and the bowlers being hammered away to all parts of the ground. They need to get their acts right before it is too late.
With everything to play for, the match promises to be a tense affair and the final game of the league stages cannot ask for a better ending than this.