All-rounder Archer’s surprise, Rajasthan in IPL playoffs

Rajasthan Royals became the last team to qualify for the IPL playoffs after defeating Mumbai Indians by 30 runs on Sunday. England’s Jofra Archer contributed greatly with both bat and ball in this victory.

Archer, who was promoted to number seven in the batting order at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, scored 32 runs off 15 balls to rescue the team, helping Rajasthan, who were struggling to win the match after losing 5 wickets for 119 runs, reach a big total of 205 runs.

Then he shone in his real job, fast bowling. Despite Suryakumar Yadav’s 60 runs, Mumbai were bundled out for 175. Archer took 3 wickets for just 17 runs.

Archer has now taken 21 wickets in 14 matches this season. He is third in the list of wicket-takers. Above him are Gujarat’s Kagiso Rabada and Bangalore’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar, both of whom have 24 wickets each.

“I don’t think this is my best season. Whenever I bowl, I try to bowl in the right places. I don’t always get wickets, but it feels good to be successful on a crucial day today,” Archer said.

He also said, ‘Even though I consider myself an all-rounder, people call me a bowler.’

Former champions Rajasthan are riding high on the back of stellar performances from everyone, including 15-year-old batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi. They qualified for the playoffs with 16 points and knocked Punjab Kings out of the fourth spot.

Punjab finished the league stage with 14 points and were praying for Rajasthan’s defeat in this match to stay in the tournament.

This victory by Rajasthan ended even the slightest hope of Kolkata Knight Riders.

A ‘tough’ battle in the last over

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad had already secured their place in the playoffs.

Bengaluru will play Gujarat in the first qualifier on Tuesday. The winner of this match will directly advance to the final in Ahmedabad on May 31.

Hyderabad and Rajasthan will face each other in the Eliminator match on Wednesday. The loser of this match will be eliminated, while the winner will play in the second qualifier.

Rajasthan lost the toss and elected to bat first, losing openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (27) and Tarun Suryavanshi (4). They were dismissed by England spinner Will Jacks and India’s Deepak Chahar.

Then wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel scored 38 and Sri Lankan Dasun Shanaka scored 29 runs off 15 balls. However, Rajasthan lost 5 wickets in the 13th over.

Although he usually bats at number nine, Archer came up two notches today and counter-attacked with the help of three sixes and a four.

Although Archer was dismissed in the 18th over, his batting inspired Ravindra Jadeja (19 off 11 balls) and Nandre Burger (10 off 3 balls). Thanks to them, Rajasthan scored 73 runs in the last 5 overs.

Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya said, “The last five overs are always tough. If you can block one or two boundaries, you can reduce the opponent by 12-15 runs. Giving away 73 runs in the last 5 overs is what knocked us out of the match.”

Then Archer shook Mumbai with the ball. He forced Rohit Sharma to be caught for zero runs in the first over.

He then bowled Naman Dhir (6) and returned a burger to Ryan Rickelton (12). As a result, five-time champions Mumbai were in danger, losing 4 wickets for 38 runs.

Suryakumar then sealed the match, putting on a 48-run stand with Pandya (34) for the sixth wicket.

Archer broke the partnership by dismissing Pandya. And when Suryakumar departed in the 18th over, Rajasthan’s play-off berth was assured.