RR Register Hat-Trick of Wins; Hardik Pandya Blames Bowlers for MI Loss

The match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians ended with a victory for Rajasthan by 27 runs in the 13th IPL 2026 match due to rain. With this win, the Rajasthan Royals have three consecutive victories in this season, holding first position in the points table. Mumbai Indians, who were placed at seventh, faced their second defeat. Due to rains, the first delivery began at 10:10 pm, and nine overs were reduced, giving only nine overs. As Rajasthan Royals lost the toss, they took batting first and made 150 runs for 3 wickets in 11 overs. On the other side, the Mumbai Indians scored 123 runs for 9 wickets in 9 overs.

After the match, captain Hardik Pandya said, "We didn't bowl the balls we should have in the powerplay. They played well. Our bowlers have to take responsibility. As a bowling group, we weren't up to expectations at all. They played excellent cricket."

Should the batting have been better? He replied, "I wouldn't blame the batting for this defeat. It was definitely the bowling unit's responsibility. This is T20 cricket, and it's always important to bowl the right balls. If you look at 27 runs, that means we're talking about five good balls and five fewer sixes. If we had bowled the right balls, we would have stayed in the match." But their openers put pressure on us in the first few overs and put us out of the match. After that, we kept lagging behind throughout, falling short of the target.

Regarding Vaibhav Suryavanshi, he said, "It's really interesting to see a 16- or 17-year-old play like this. The way he bats, the fearlessness he displays, and the kind of shots he plays is amazing to watch. I wish him all the best for his future."

What would he say about the next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore? When asked, Pandya said, "We just have to learn from our mistakes. Tomorrow morning will come, the sun will rise. Just learn from our mistakes and prepare well for the next match."