Delhi: In the 13th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Rajasthan Royals (RR) registered their third consecutive win by defeating Mumbai Indians (MI) by 27 runs in a thrilling match played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. With this win, the team captained by Riyan Parag reached the top position in the points table, while Mumbai Indians dropped to seventh position after their second consecutive defeat.

Match shortened due to rain, strong batting by batsmen

Due to rain the match was reduced to 11-11 overs. After winning the toss, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya chose to bowl first, but Rajasthan batsmen took advantage of this and performed brilliantly. The team made a challenging score of 150 runs by losing only 3 wickets in 11 overs. In reply, Mumbai team was seen struggling and could score only 123 runs after losing 9 wickets in the stipulated overs.

Hardik reminded the bowlers of their responsibility

After the match, Hardik Pandya cited bowling as the main reason for the defeat. He said, “Our bowling in the powerplay was not as it should have been. Our bowling unit has to take responsibility. We were not at the level that is expected in T20 cricket.”

Defending the batting, he said, “I will not blame the batting for this defeat. Only our bowling was a little lacking. In T20, small margins change the game. If we had bowled five correct balls and were able to stop some shots, the game would have been under our control.”

Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s batting won hearts

The batting of 15 year old young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi impressed everyone including Hardik. Hardik said, “It is amazing to see such a young player playing with so much confidence and courage. We had discussed about him in advance, but he performed much better than expected. I wish him all the best for the future.”

Preparing to make a comeback against RCB

Hardik adopted a positive attitude for the upcoming match. He said, “The team will learn from its mistakes and move forward. Tomorrow is a new day, the sun will rise again. We just have to learn from our mistakes and make strong preparations for the next match.”