MUMBAI, India (AP) — England pacer Jofra Archer put in an all-round performance as Rajasthan Royals advanced to the Indian Premier League playoffs in fourth place with a 30-run win against Mumbai Indians on Sunday.
Rajasthan’s victory also knocked out Punjab Kings, which had previously occupied the fourth and last playoff spot, and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Archer hit 32 off 15 balls to help Rajasthan score 205-8 in its must-win final league game, and then took 3-17 in four overs as Mumbai was restricted to 175-9.
Rajasthan (16 points) secured fourth spot — a point ahead of Punjab — with its eighth win in 14 games,
Mumbai finished ninth with 10 losses in 14 games, just above Lucknow on net run-rate.
Coming up
Points table winner and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on second-place Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday at Dharamsala.
Third-place Sunrisers Hyderabad will play Rajasthan in the Eliminator on Wednesday in New Chandigarh, which will also host Qualifier 2 on Friday between the losing team in Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator winner.
The final will be on May 31 at Ahmedabad.
Archer on target with bat and ball
Put into bat, Rajasthan lost 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for four. Yashasvi Jaiswal provided a quick start with 27 off 17 balls, including three sixes.
Rajasthan scored 54-3 in the powerplay – Jaiswal was caught off Will Jacks in the fourth over, with Sooryavanshi out four balls later to Deepak Chahar. Skipper Riyan Parag (14) was caught on the final ball of the powerplay.
Dhruv Jurel (38) and Dasun Shanaka (29) added 45 off 27 balls. Shanaka was run out just past the halfway stage.
Rajasthan slipped to 139-6 in 15.3 overs, with Jurel and Donovan Ferreira (18) losing their wickets.
Archer came to the rescue. He hit three sixes in his 15-ball innings and Ravindra Jadeja scored 19 not out off 11 as Rajasthan eventually crossed 200.
Archer then struck with the ball – Rohit Sharma was caught behind for a duck and Naman Dhir was bowled for six with Mumbai down to 18-2 in 2.3 overs.
Nandre Burger sent back Ryan Rickelton for 12 in the next over and Brijesh Sharma bowled Tilak Varma for three. Mumbai was 38-4 in 5.1 overs and finished the powerplay with 49-4.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 60 off 42 balls – only his second half-century this season – and rebuilt the chase, first with Jacks (33) and then skipper Hardik Pandya (34).
Yadav and Jacks added 63 off 38 balls, and then another 48 off 25 balls with Pandya, as Mumbai fought back.
But Archer returned to have Pandya caught in the 16th over and Mumbai’s hopes faded.
Yadav was out caught in the 18th over as Mumbai’s disappointing season approached its end. Burger finished with 2-43, while Sharma took 2-26 and wrist spinner Yash Raj Punja 2-44.
Dead rubber in Kolkata
After Rajasthan’s qualification, Delhi Capitals beat Kolkata by 40 runs in the season’s final league game.
Lokesh Rahul hit 60 off 30 balls, with four sixes, as Delhi scored 203-5.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane led Kolkata’s chase with 63 off 39 balls, before wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav turned the game with 3-29.
Kolkata collapsed from 128-3 to 163 all out in the span of 33 balls.
Kolkata (13 points) finished seventh in the table, with six wins in 14 games. Delhi (14 points) ended sixth with seven wins.
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