RR vs MI: Who will win today’s IPL 2018 game?

Mumbai Indians has a habit of unearthing little-known spinners. It was the first to spot Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal, though the trio found success with other franchises. It is now the turn of leg-spinner Mayank Markande to be in the news for Mumbai Indians as the team, after three defeats in four matches, looks to redeem its reputation as a three-time winner of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Source: DNA India

Mumbai Indians meets Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Sunday with the host playing its sixth match — three losses and two wins. It could turn out to be a critical contest for both teams at this stage of the tournament.

Source: Hindustan Times

Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are the pillars of Rajasthan's batting. Samson is second on the IPL 2018 runs charts with a strike rate of about 155. He has scored only nine runs in the last two games, but he could make up for that with a strong performance on Sunday night. Buttler has scored in 20s in his previous four innings, and a big knock from him could be just around the corner. With Jaydev Unadkat not looking in rhythm, the Royals' bowling will depend mainly on Ben Laughlin and Shreyas Gopal. The latter has been the team's best bowler with five wickets and an economy rate of under 6, and he seems more likely to trouble the Mumbai batsmen with his leg-spin.

Rohit Sharma returned to form with a blistering 52-ball 94 in the last game against RCB while Evin Lewis was also impressive in his knock of 65. While both these batsmen will be the key for MI at the top, JP Duminy and Hardik Pandya will be the team's biggest hopes down the order. When it comes to bowling, the onus will once again be on Jasprit Bumrah to keep things tight during the powerplay as well as at the death. While Mitchell McClenaghan and Mustafizur Rahman are also quality bowlers in the side, the bigger threat however will be leg-spinner Mayank Markande who is the season's leading wicket-taker with eight wickets.

RR VS MI TEAM NEWS:

Rajasthan Royals

• Rajasthan Royals faced a crushing defeat on Friday and can make a few changes to their lineup.
• Heinrich Klaasen may drop down the order, and Rahul Tripathi can be promoted to open the innings.
• There is an outside chance of Joffra Archer coming in for Klaasen.
• The inclusion of Stuart Binny did not work. He along with Krishnappa Gowtham and Jaydev Unadkat are not certain in the playing XI.

Mumbai Indians

• After securing their first win of the IPL 2018, MI might go in with the same XI, except for Ishan Kishan who was hit on the eye.
• Aditya Tare is likely to replace Kishan behind the wickets.

Rajasthan Royals Squad :

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

Probable XI of RR: Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Rahul Tripathi, D Arcy Short, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Sharma

Mumbai Indians Squad :

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

Probable XI of MI : Rohit Sharma(c), Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mustafizur Rahman, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, Evin Lewis, Saurabh Tiwary

Match Prediction:

With the momentum on Mumbai's side, I feel that they have what it takes to get over the line and get their second win of the season. The Royals bowling line-up has not delivered so far, and Mumbai's batting just seems too strong.