With over 50 matches, and still the top four not finalized, Is this the best Indian Premier League ever? The season has already given the spectators some unforgettable moments and with just six more matches left in the league stages and three spots up for the grab, the remaining matches promise to be highly engaging and entertaining.
The double-header weekend will kick off the Delhi Capitals taking on the defending champions Mumbai Indians. The 51st match of the IPL 2020 is scheduled to be played at the Dubai International Stadium.
The side led by Shreyas Iyer is on a three match losing streak and find themselves placed 3rd on the points table but they would not want to take things till the end and will look to seal their spot in this encounter. While, the defending champions Mumbai Indians find themselves comfortably placed at the top of the table. MI are the only team to qualify for the play- offs so far, thus the result here would not affect them much. But given the quality of the side, they would be aiming to finish the league at the top of the table.
The Capitals come into this match on the back of a huge 88 runs defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. DC were completely clueless in the chase of a whopping 219 scored by the SRH. The Sunrisers had a breezy start to their innings, scoring 113 of the first 10 overs. The onslaught took the SRH to a humongous total of 219, which the Delhi side had no reply whatsoever.
The Mumbai Indians will feel much more confident as they had a clinical win over the RCB side as they managed to chase down the score of 164 with 5 wickets in hand and 5 balls to spare courtesy of an absolutely stunning innings by the middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav. The 30- year old was awarded the Man of the Match for his match- winning knock of 79 of 43 balls.
The last time the two sides met, the match went in favor of the Men in Blue. The coin fell in favor of DC and they chose to bat first. Their opener Prithvi Shaw was dismissed cheaply, but with a half-century by their opener- Shikhar Dhawan and sensible innings of 42 by the captain Shreyas Iyer ensured the team reached a decent total of 162. But with the kind of batting line-up the four time champions possess, the score was never enough and their opener Quinton de Kock and star middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav made it look easy, as MI ended on the winning side by 5 wickets.
Can the mighty Mumbai Indians continue their winning momentum and cement their place at the top of the table? Or is it the Capitals turn to seal the berth?
Head to Head
Matches Played- 25, DC- 12, MI- 13, N/R- 0
Team News
The Delhi Capitals have not reported any injuries. Though, their batsmen seem to be struggling to get going in the last few matches, they do have a world-class line-up. With Ajinkya Rahane not being able to get going, the young opener Prithvi Shaw could make his return to the playing Xl.
The Mumbai Indians on the other side would be more than happy to feature the same Xl that won them the game against the Bangalore side. Said that, the fact that they have already qualified for the play-offs opens up the path for the MI management to try out the players who are yet to make an appearance this season.
Pitch and Conditions
The pitch in Dubai has been on the slower side as the ball seems to be sticking to the pitch at times. But the due has been a vital role in the last few games and has helped the chasing team considerably. Said that, a score of 170 plus still seems a winning total.
The conditions are ideal for cricket as clear skies are expected throughout the day. The temperatures have been declining as well over the past few days, the temperature is expected to be hovering in the range of 27-29 degree mark. While, the humidity is expected to reach a maximum of 58 percent, while the lowest being 50 percent.
Probable Playing Xl
Delhi Capitals (DC): Ajinkya Rahane/Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tushar Deshpande
Mumbai Indians (MI): Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard (c), Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Key Battles
Ishan Kishan (MI) vs Kagiso Rabada (DC)
The youngster Ishan Kishan is doing a really good job as the opener for the Mumbai Indians and has been an ideal replacement for the injured MI captain Rohit Sharma. Though the young blood makes him play some rash shots, which in turn have landed him in trouble on several occasions. Said that once he settled he has been a treat to watch.
On the other side will be the best bowler of the tournament- Kagiso Rabada. The proteas pacer has been picking up wickets at will and on only one occasion he has gone wicketless this season. DC would not want to take things deeper and will look to seal their spot by winning this encounter. In order to do that, Rabada will know he has to tick his wickets column once again.
Can the young blood dominate the best bowler? Or will the proteas spearhead add more victims to his list?
Shikhar Dhawan (DC) vs Jasprit Bumrah (MI)
The DC opener Shikhar Dhawan is having an in and out season. He is the second highest run- scorer in this season with 471 runs, which includes two magnificent centuries. Said that, the southpaw has been on the quiet ever since. Delhi Capitals will need the Indian opener to set the tone once again as this match could decide the position of DC on the table.
While the Mumbai Indians have the ‘Boom Boom’ Bumrah who has been giving the best of the batsmen a very tough time. The Indian spearhead is just 3 wickets away from joining the leading wicket- taker in the current season. In order for the DC to bounce back after their three consecutive losses, Dhawan will have his job cut off against the MI pacer.
Can the Southpaw outsmart the Yorker machine? Or will Boom Boom once again give a tough time to the batsmen?
Prediction
The table toppers Mumbai Indians have been in great touch and look unstoppable at the moment. While the DC have been choking in the last few matches and have looked a completely different side from the ones they were at the first half of the season.
The conditions seem much in favor of the Mumbai Indians as they have had a very good set of hard- hitters in the form of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard. The DC batsmen have struggled against the bowling attacks in their last matches and here they have to face off with the one of the best or say even the best bowling line up in this tournament.
The only way DC can get past the mighty Mumbai Indians is if Dhawan replicates one of his century scoring performances and hope the bowling attack which is headed by Kagiso Rabada does a good job.
Cricwizz predicts Mumbai Indians to win the match
