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Mumbai, 24 May. West Indies-born English pacer Jofra Archer’s versatile performance (32 runs, 15 balls, three sixes, one four and 3-17) proved decisive for Rajasthan Royals (RR), who completed the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL-19) 2026 playoff lineup by defeating Mumbai Indians (MI) by 30 runs on the final day of the league stage on Sunday. With this, the two other contenders remaining in the race for the playoffs – defending runners-up Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) – were also disappointed, whose hopes were pinned on the defeat of RR.

Rajasthan reached 205 runs due to useful innings of Jurel and Archer and other batsmen.

Rajasthan Royals, who were forced to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium, however, did not get a good start as opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (27 runs, 17 balls, three sixes, one four) and teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi (four runs), apart from the returned captain Ryan Parag (14 runs, eight balls, one six, two fours) were also out in the powerplay (3-54). But other batsmen including Dhruv Jurel (38 runs, 26 balls, two sixes, three fours) and Archer took charge at the time of need and the team was successful in scoring a strong score of 205 runs for eight wickets.

Archer derailed Mumbai batting twice

In retaliation, ‘Player of the Match’ Archer removed Rohit Sharma (0) and Naman Dheer (six runs, one four) in his first two overs and then when he dismissed captain Hardik Pandya (34 runs, 15 balls, two sixes, three fours) in the 16th over, Mumbai’s innings, which seemed to be returning to the contest for once, faltered again.

Despite the efforts of Surya, Jacques and Pandya, the hosts were limited to 175 runs.

Archer also got good support from Nandre Berger (2-43), Brijesh Sharma (2-26) and Yashraj Punja (2-44). The result was that despite the efforts of Suryakumar Yadav (60 runs, 42 balls, four sixes, three fours), Pandya and Will Jacques (33 runs, 18 balls, two sixes, three fours), the host team reached 175 runs for nine wickets.

Rajasthani team remained at fourth place in the points table with its eighth win.

Rajasthan Royals completed the playoff lineup with 16 points from their eighth win in 14 matches and fourth place in the points table behind defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad (all three have 18 points). Meanwhile, five-time former champions Mumbai Indians, who were already out of the race, ended their disappointing campaign by finishing ninth with eight points after 10 losses.

Punjab and KKR’s hopes rest only on the cost of Rajasthan’s defeat.

To be honest, with the result of the first match of Sunday’s double header, the hopes of Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders were also dashed. Last night, Punjab Kings had kept themselves in the race with 15 points by defeating Lucknow Super Giants, whereas if Rajasthan team had lost today, KKR would have hoped to leave Punjab behind by reaching 15 points with a big win over Delhi Capitals in the second match of the day. But the Royals disappointed both. In this sequence, the Kolkata vs Delhi match became meaningless even before its start.

in eliminator of rajasthan srh will meet

Now after a day’s rest, in the first clarifier of the playoff, the teams of RCB and Gujarat Titans will face each other in Dharamshala on 26th May, while the next day on 27th May, there will be an eliminator match between Rajasthan and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in New Chandigarh.

score card

The losing team of the first Qualifier will face the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 on May 29 in New Chandigarh and the winner of that match will face the winner of Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad on May 31 in the final.