Jofra Archer starred for Rajasthan Royals as they secured the final play-off spot in the Indian Premier League with a 30-run win over Mumbai Indians.
The England seamer struck 32 from 15 balls in the Royals innings, then returned figures of 3-17 as Mumbai closed on 175-9 chasing 206.
The result helped Archer’s side leapfrog Punjab Kings into fourth place and also knocked Kolkata Knight Riders out of play-off contention.
Royals slipped from 33-0 to 33-2 after being put into bat, and lost 15-year-old opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for four and fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, caught off the bowling of Will Jacks, for 27.
Dhruv Jurel top scored with 38, while Archer promoted up the order to seven, provided acceleration with three sixes late in the innings as Royals finished on 205-8.
Archer swiftly removed the openers in Mumbai’s reply – dismissing Rohit Sharma for a duck from the fourth ball of the innings and bowling Naman Dhir for six in the third over.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 60 for the home side, helping them to recover from 33-4 via 63 and 48-run partnerships with Jacks (33) and captain Hardik Pandya (34).
Archer returned to break-up the latter pairing, having Pandya caught by Nandre Burger, and Yadav was dismissed two overs later as Mumbai lost four wickets for 18 runs on their way to defeat.
Mumbai finish their campaign in ninth with four wins and 10 defeats, while Royals will now face third-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first play-off match on 27 May.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans, who finished first and second respectively, will play each other on 26 May, with the winners progressing straight to the final on 31 May.
The losers face the victors of Royals-Sunrisers on 29 May for the second place in the final.
Scorecard; Table
