IPL 2018: RR vs MI - Preview, head-to-head, pitch report & key stats

The inaugural IPL champions, Rajasthan Royals, will be up against the three-time IPL champions, Mumbai Indians, in the 21st match of the season.

Rajasthan will be entering the encounter with a loss in their previous match against Chennai. Thus, Royals would be looking forward to getting back to winning ways with a home encounter on the cards. Rajasthan will need to alter their playing XI as they haven't been able to find the right combination.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians would be coming on the back of a comprehensive win against RCB in the previous encounter. Mumbai would be hoping to stick to their basics, and carry forward the winning momentum.

This encounter will decide the future of both the teams in the tournament as both, RR and MI, are in the bottom half of the points table.

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Date, Time and Venue

Match Date: 22 April 2018, Sunday

Match Timing: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

Match Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, India

Expected Crowd Turnout: The SMS (Sawai Mansingh Stadium) will be dipped in the colors of blue as the two featured teams are RR and MI. Thus, it is expected to be a house-full game with an expected crowd turnout of 28,000.

Weather

There is no forecast of rain and the humidity levels will be as low as 10%. Thus, it is expected to be a pleasant evening in Jaipur. The weather will be a tad hazy with an overall cloud cover of 31%. Dew might not come into play as the air will be drier.

Pitch report

The Jaipur wicket is considered to be one of the best batting surfaces where the ball comes nicely onto the bat. During the game against Kolkata Knight Riders, a pacy wicket was on offer which put the impetus on capitalizing the new ball.

Head-to-head

MI dominate the IPL records with nine wins compared to six wins for RR.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) IPL 2018 Squad:

RR would be looking forward to gaining their momentum back

Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (WK), Rahul Tripathi, D Arcy Short, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Ish Sodhi, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Sudhesan Midhun, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Jatin Saxena, Dushmantha Chameera, Ajinkya Rahane (C), and Heinrich Klassen.

Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2018 Squad:

MI

would be hoping to strengthen their place in the points table

Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Akila Dananjaya, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Pradeep Sangwan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tajinder Singh, Sharad Lumba, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, and Adam Milne.

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All the stats and numbers to look out ahead of the match No. 21 between RR and MI:

1 – Ben Laughlin needs one more wicket to complete 150 T20 wickets.

3 – Rohit Sharma needs to hit three more sixes to complete 300 sixes in the history of T20 cricket. He will become the seventh player in the history of T20 cricket to hit 300 or more sixes.

3 – Anjikya Rahane requires three more sixes to surpass Manish Pandey on the list of most IPL sixes. Rahane will be fifteenth on the list of most IPL sixes by an Indian.

4 – Samson vs McClenaghan: Samson has been dismissed by the left-arm seamer four times in 11 deliveries, including three dismissals off the last three balls. No other bowler has dismissed him more than twice in IPL.

64 – Sanju Samson needs 64 more runs to become the fifth player to score 1000 runs for RR in IPL.