There was a collective sigh of relief among Mumbai Indians fans as Rohit Sharma called it right at the toss in their final league match of IPL 2021 against SunRisers Hyderabad on Friday. Given the current situation, Mumbai Indians’ only chance to make the play-offs by toppling Kolkata Knight Riders’ net-run-rate as if they set a target. Rohit had a big smile on Rohit’s face after winning the toss as he knew he and his team still had their fortunes in their own hand. Mumbai now need to post a huge score and win by a margin of 171 runs or more to get into the play-offs and keep their chances of going for a hat-trick of IPL titles alive. It won’t be an easy task as teams have found it difficult to post big totals in UAE this season and Mumbai themselves have faced a torrid time with their batsmen struggling.

“We are going to bat first, no choice (smiles). The numbers are pretty scary, but we are going to give it all. Let’s hope we can come out and do what we love to do. It’s important to enjoy the game as well. It’s been an on and off season for us. This is a great opportunity for us to do something that’s never been done before. Our batters haven’t come collectively and performed as a team in the UAE leg. But these guys have done exceedingly well for respective teams. Just can happen. Two changes. Getting Krunal back and Piyush Chawla back. No Tiwary and Jayant Yadav,” Rohit said after winning the toss.

MI’s current NRR is -0.048, which is why they face a near-impossible challenge of making it to the playoffs.

In their last game against RR, MI cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket win after restricting their opponents to a paltry total of 90/9 in 20 overs.

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Nathan Counter-Nile and Jimmy Neesham finished with figures of 4/14 and 3/12, respectively, as RR struggled. Ishan Kishan too returned to form with an unbeaten fifty as MI kept their playoff hopes alive.

On the other hand, SRH beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by four runs in their last game in a thrilling clash.