3 memorable clashes between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium

Mumbai Indians will host Rajasthan Royals in a do-or-die clash at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night. This is a do-or-die game for both the teams as a loss would mean they are virtually out of the tournament. Both teams are coming off from victories in their previous games and would look to carry forward that moment in an all-important clash.

Mumbai Indians, in particular, have an added advantage as they will be playing at home, but nothing can be taken away from Rajasthan Royals as they will be high on confidence after defeating Chennai Super Kings on Friday night at Jaipur.

The game will be played at the Wankhede Stadium and Mumbai Indians have a dominant record of winning 4 games out of 5 games played at this venue between both the sides.

Let us look at 3 memorable clashes between both the sides at this venue.

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#3 Shane Watson’s all-round effort helps Rajasthan secure an easy win – 2011

Shane Watson

In the fourth season of Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians got off to a bad start, losing Tirumalasetti Suman for 5 in the second over off the bowling of Shane Watson. Things didn’t get any better as an in-form Ambati Rayudu was dismissed in the fourth over, caught at the mid-on region off the bowling of Shane Watson.

Sachin Tendulkar, who was batting at the other end, found able support in the form of Rohit Sharma and the pair added 48 runs for the 3rd wicket. A well-set Tendulkar was dismissed in the 12th over for 31 as he cut one short delivery of the bowling of Amit Singh to the third man region.

Rohit Sharma went along his merry way to notch up another 50. But the innings couldn’t gather any momentum thanks to some tight bowling by Rajasthan Royals bowlers, led by Shane Warne. In the end, Mumbai Indians meandered their way to a below par total of 133/5 in the 20 overs.

Rohit Sharma was the top scorer with 58, while, Watson was the pick of the bowlers for Rajasthan with 3-19 in his full quota of 4 overs.

In reply, Rajasthan Royals openers made light weather of the chase. Openers Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson stayed undefeated with a partnership of 134 that took them home with more than 6 overs to spare. Watson was the highest scorer among the two with 89 of just 47 balls, while Dravid scored a classy 43 off 32 balls.

Rajasthan Royals won the game by 10 wickets and for his all-round effort, Shane Watson was awarded Man of the Match.

#2 Ambati Rayudu’s 53 and Mitch McClenaghan’s 3-fer set-up a famous win for MI - 2015

Put into bat first on a flat deck, Mumbai Indians started their innings well thanks to their openers, Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons. The pair added 43 runs for the first wicket, before Dhawal Kulkarni dismissed Parthiv Patel caught and bowled for 23. Simmons looked good until he was trapped LBW for 38 of the bowling of off-spinner Ankit Sharma.

Unmukt Chand didn’t last long as he was bounced out by Tim Southee for 13. At this juncture, Mumbai Indians were 84-3 in 10.4 overs.

Skipper Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu stitched together a decent partnership of 34 runs for the fourth wicket before Rohit Sharma was caught at fine leg region by Ankit Sharma, who pulled of a one-handed blinder to dismiss Sharma for 27. With more than 5 overs to spare, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard threw caution to the wind by attacking the Rajasthan bowlers.

The pair added 61 runs for the 5th wicket and Ambati Rayudu raced away to another IPL fifty. In the end, Mumbai Indians put up a solid total of 187/5 in the allotted 20 overs. Ambati Rayudu was the top scorer with 53 not out, while Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets.

In reply, openers Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson got the team off to a quick start. The pair added 30 runs before Rahane skied one to be caught at the covers region. Shane Watson continued his good form but he couldn’t continue the good start as he was dismissed by Jagadeesh Suchith for 28.

Steve Smith and Sanju Samson got together to resurrect the innings. The pair cashed in against some loose bowling by Mumbai Indians and found the fence at regular intervals. Sanju Samson, in particular, was in a silky touch and he timed every boundary to perfection.

Rajasthan looked well on their way for a comfortable until things started to change in the 15th over, when Steve Smith top-edged one to third man of the bowling of Mitch McClenaghan for 23. Sanju Samson, who had played a match-winning knock, threw his wicket away by giving an easy catch to long off fielder of the bowling of McClenaghan for 76.

Mumbai Indians bowlers capitalized on this and kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Deepak Hooda fell in a span of 5 balls and suddenly Rajasthan required 26 of 2 overs.

The penultimate over was bowled by Lasith Malinga and it yielded only 6 runs. With 20 to win off the last over, Stuart Binny and Rusty Theron tried their best but it was too much of a task as they could only manage 11 runs of the final over that was bowled by Vinay Kumar.

This was a game for the taking for Rajasthan but they grassed it by losing wickets at important junctures. Mumbai Indians won the game by 8 runs, and for his scintillating 53 of just 27 balls, Ambati Rayudu was awarded Man of the Match.

#1 Mumbai pull of a heist to qualify for the playoffs – 2014

During the business end of the 2014 season of the Indian Premier League, the equation was pretty simple: a win for Rajasthan would mean they qualify for the playoffs or even a loss with a lesser margin would ensure their qualification. Whereas, for the Mumbai Indians, they not only needed to win but to win by a huge margin, to qualify for the playoffs.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first. Rajasthan Royals lost Shane Watson in the 6th over but this didn’t hold the pair of Sanju Samson and Karun Nair back. The young pair added 99 runs for the second wicket and swung the momentum in Rajasthan’s favour.

Samson once again showed his class with exquisite drives and cuts, while Karun Nair attacked the Mumbai bowlers right from the word go and smashed them all over the park. He raced away to a quickfire 50 off just 26 balls, but was dismissed right after scoring a 50.

However, this innings was the perfect launchpad for the lower order to attack. Samson was dismissed in the 16th over for a well made 74 of just 47 deliveries, and at this juncture, Rajasthan Royals were 3-136 in 15.3 overs with two new batsmen at the crease.

James Faulker and Brad Hodge struck a few lusty blows at the end to power the team to a total to 189/4 in 20 overs.

The equation was pretty simple for Mumbai Indians, they needed to chase the target of 190 in 14.4 or less overs to qualify for the playoffs.

With a mountain to climb, they got off to a poor start, losing Lendl Simmons for 12 in the second over. Corey Anderson, who then had the record for fastest ODI century was promoted up the order to number 3.

He, along with Michael Hussey, took the attack to the opposition, smashing the Rajasthan bowlers to all corners of the Wankhede Stadium. Despite losing Michael Hussey and Kieron Pollard in quick succession, Mumbai Indians were in the hunt thanks to some incredible onslaught from Corey Anderson.

82 runs were required off 32 balls, when Rohit Sharma was dismissed of the bowling of Dhawal Kulkarni for 16. Corey Anderson and Ambati Rayudu kept smashing the Rajasthan bowlers to bring the equation to 8 of 2 balls.

On the 2nd ball of the 14th over, Ambati Rayudu smashed a six off a full toss from James Faulkner to bring the required runs to 2 of 1 ball.

On the 3rd ball, Rayudu was run out trying to steal a non-existent second run after the cover fielder missed out hitting the stumps, they went for the second, but fell short of the crease at the wicket keeper's end.

As per the equation, Mumbai needed to score a boundary off the 4th ball to qualify for the playoffs; anything else meant they would be out of the tournament.

Under huge pressure, James Faulkner bowled a knee-high full toss at Aditya Tare who clobbered it for a six over square leg boundary. The Wankhede Stadium was thrilled and the entire Mumbai Indians squad run on to the ground to pounce on Aditya Tare who turned out to be the hero of the match. But the real man of the match was Corey Anderson, whose 44-ball 95 turned the game towards Mumbai Indians.

A dejected Rajasthan Royals team walked out of the field and it was a rare sight to see an angry Rahul Dravid throw his cap away in disgust.

Mumbai Indians won the game by 5 wickets and with 32 balls to spare. This win meant they handsomely qualified for the playoffs. For his breathtaking stroke play, that pulled off a miracle, Corey Anderson was awarded the Man of the Match.