Is this the year? Is it coming home? Will there be a newly crowned IPL champion? The rhetoric on every DC fan’s mind will be ‘Why not?’ Delhi has shown what they are capable of and on their day are more than capable of going past any outfit. After defeating RCB, Shreyas Iyer and his boys made it to the Playoffs for the second year running. They are no strangers to the last four, but the franchise from the capital city has never reached an IPL final yet.
MI got the better of DC on both occasions this season and beating them will take some doing, but it won’t be a surprise by any stretch of imagination if they pull it off in the first Qualifier. Because that’s what you’ve got to do to be the best - beat the best.
Mumbai Indians come into this game having tasted a 10-wicket defeat against the Sunrisers in their last league match. With just a day's break, they will travel to Dubai and will have to start afresh. They do not boast of an impressive record at the Dubai International Stadium this season, but their sole victory at the venue came against us. A big positive for them is the return of their skipper, Rohit Sharma. The likes of Bumrah, Boult and Hardik will rightfully take their place back in the XI and are sure to bolster the line up.
Delhi Capitals beefed up their bowling group by playing 3 international pacers in Daniel Sams, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, a move praised by experts and fans alike. The inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane at number 3 also proved to be an inspired change. Ravi Ashwin had walked off the ground after his spell in the previous game and fans will hope that the stalwart is fit for the Mumbai challenge. Dhawan has been in fine touch and will look for little more support from the other end of the 22 yards. Will the Mumbai lad Prithvi Shaw find back the form he had in the first half of the tournament in a crunch game against Mumbai?
“As far as I’m concerned, our tournament starts now!” said an elated Ricky Ponting after the match against RCB. A well-motivated DC squad will make sure they look at it that way as two formidable teams go up against each other in the mouth-watering first Playoff game of the Dream11IPL.
Stat Attack
Rishabh Pant is 43 runs away from completing 3000 T20 runs. The southpaw didn’t get much time in the middle in the last encounter and remained unbeaten hitting the winning runs against RCB.
Shreyas Iyer needs 73 runs to go past Virender Sehwag on the list of top run-scorers for Delhi Capitals. The latter has owned the top spot for many years now with 2174 runs, while the current skipper is on 2102 runs.
Another batting milestone is in sight for Ajinkya Rahane. Jinks needs 69 runs to reach 4000 IPL runs and will look to enter that elite list this season. He also needs just 4 sixes to complete 100 T20 sixes.
In the bowling department, Anrich Nortje needs 4 wickets to bring up the milestone of 50 T20 wickets. In his debut IPL season, the speedster has caught eyeballs and has been a revelation. Harshal Patel too waits for the 2 wickets he needs to reach 100 T20 wickets.
Twitter Chatter
Rapt to secure a top-two spot with the win against RCB. Now onto preparing for MI on Thursday. I know the boys are looking forward to it. @delhicapitals pic.twitter.com/5QE6qVxNyl
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) November 2, 2020
In Ponting we trust ๐๐ป
Get the trophy home guys! You are simply the best!
— Aman Sidhana (@AmanSidhana) November 3, 2020
๐ค๐ค
Very well played boys. Now dig MI out as our good hunting ground Dubai is there for us only. Final is for sure.
— Dilip Sase (@DilipSase) November 3, 2020
๐ on ๐
Key Battles
Jasprit Bumrah vs Rishabh Pant
Five times. Pant has been dismissed 5 times by Jasprit Bumrah. The most times he has ever been dismissed by any bowler. The MI pacer has also been in fine form this IPL scalping 23 wickets, just 2 behind Kagiso Rabada. Rishabh Pant hasn’t been his usual flamboyant and explosive self so far this season, and he’ll hope to bring out his A-game against his nemesis.
Kagiso Rabada vs Hardik Pandya & Kieron Pollard
Mumbai’s finishers have been brutal in the death overs in this edition of the IPL. It will be up to Kagiso Rabada, who holds the Purple Cap currently, to do what he does best and pick up important wickets in the death overs, these two in particular.
Form Guide (Most Recent First)
MI - L, W, W, L, W
DC - W, L, L, L, L
MI and DC stand at opposite ends of the IPL's success spectrum, but there is not a lot separating them this season. The winner of this match goes straight to the final while the loser gets another bite at the cherry against the winner of the Eliminator - SRH vs RCB. Dubai is set up for a crackerjack. Let the Roars be loud and bold.
Is this the year? Is it coming home? Will there be a newly crowned IPL champion? The rhetoric on every DC fan’s mind will be ‘Why not?’ Delhi has shown what they are capable of and on their day are more than capable of going past any outfit. After defeating RCB, Shreyas Iyer and his boys made it to the Playoffs for the second year running. They are no strangers to the last four, but the franchise from the capital city has never reached an IPL final yet.
MI got the better of DC on both occasions this season and beating them will take some doing, but it won’t be a surprise by any stretch of imagination if they pull it off in the first Qualifier. Because that’s what you’ve got to do to be the best - beat the best.
Mumbai Indians come into this game having tasted a 10-wicket defeat against the Sunrisers in their last league match. With just a day's break, they will travel to Dubai and will have to start afresh. They do not boast of an impressive record at the Dubai International Stadium this season, but their sole victory at the venue came against us. A big positive for them is the return of their skipper, Rohit Sharma. The likes of Bumrah, Boult and Hardik will rightfully take their place back in the XI and are sure to bolster the line up.
Delhi Capitals beefed up their bowling group by playing 3 international pacers in Daniel Sams, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, a move praised by experts and fans alike. The inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane at number 3 also proved to be an inspired change. Ravi Ashwin had walked off the ground after his spell in the previous game and fans will hope that the stalwart is fit for the Mumbai challenge. Dhawan has been in fine touch and will look for little more support from the other end of the 22 yards. Will the Mumbai lad Prithvi Shaw find back the form he had in the first half of the tournament in a crunch game against Mumbai?
“As far as I’m concerned, our tournament starts now!” said an elated Ricky Ponting after the match against RCB. A well-motivated DC squad will make sure they look at it that way as two formidable teams go up against each other in the mouth-watering first Playoff game of the Dream11IPL.
Stat Attack
Rishabh Pant is 43 runs away from completing 3000 T20 runs. The southpaw didn’t get much time in the middle in the last encounter and remained unbeaten hitting the winning runs against RCB.
Shreyas Iyer needs 73 runs to go past Virender Sehwag on the list of top run-scorers for Delhi Capitals. The latter has owned the top spot for many years now with 2174 runs, while the current skipper is on 2102 runs.
Another batting milestone is in sight for Ajinkya Rahane. Jinks needs 69 runs to reach 4000 IPL runs and will look to enter that elite list this season. He also needs just 4 sixes to complete 100 T20 sixes.
In the bowling department, Anrich Nortje needs 4 wickets to bring up the milestone of 50 T20 wickets. In his debut IPL season, the speedster has caught eyeballs and has been a revelation. Harshal Patel too waits for the 2 wickets he needs to reach 100 T20 wickets.
Twitter Chatter
Rapt to secure a top-two spot with the win against RCB. Now onto preparing for MI on Thursday. I know the boys are looking forward to it. @delhicapitals pic.twitter.com/5QE6qVxNyl
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) November 2, 2020
In Ponting we trust ๐๐ป
Get the trophy home guys! You are simply the best!
— Aman Sidhana (@AmanSidhana) November 3, 2020
๐ค๐ค
Very well played boys. Now dig MI out as our good hunting ground Dubai is there for us only. Final is for sure.
— Dilip Sase (@DilipSase) November 3, 2020
๐ on ๐
Key Battles
Jasprit Bumrah vs Rishabh Pant
Five times. Pant has been dismissed 5 times by Jasprit Bumrah. The most times he has ever been dismissed by any bowler. The MI pacer has also been in fine form this IPL scalping 23 wickets, just 2 behind Kagiso Rabada. Rishabh Pant hasn’t been his usual flamboyant and explosive self so far this season, and he’ll hope to bring out his A-game against his nemesis.
Kagiso Rabada vs Hardik Pandya & Kieron Pollard
Mumbai’s finishers have been brutal in the death overs in this edition of the IPL. It will be up to Kagiso Rabada, who holds the Purple Cap currently, to do what he does best and pick up important wickets in the death overs, these two in particular.
Form Guide (Most Recent First)
MI - L, W, W, L, W
DC - W, L, L, L, L
MI and DC stand at opposite ends of the IPL's success spectrum, but there is not a lot separating them this season. The winner of this match goes straight to the final while the loser gets another bite at the cherry against the winner of the Eliminator - SRH vs RCB. Dubai is set up for a crackerjack. Let the Roars be loud and bold.
