After getting those significant 2 points against Punjab Kings, our final game of the league stage against Mumbai Indians offers a great chance to book our spot in the Top 4, and therefore the Playoffs of TATA IPL 2022.
It’s a do-or-die game for the DC Tigers with our fate in our own hands. The other contenders for the Playoff spot, Royal Challengers Bangalore rest their hopes on the Mumbai Indians.
The fact that our final league stage game is against the Mumbai Indians, the very same team we began our season against, will bring back some happy memories of the reverse fixture for our DC stars. After some early trouble at 72/5, our all-rounders Lalit Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel all made significant contributions under pressure to chase 178 with 10 balls to spare.
We have had an edge over MI in recent times, winning our last 3 encounters against them, and Head Coach Ricky Ponting is confident that the experienced DC stars will step up in this must-win encounter as well.
“Going into big games like we have against MI, you need your more experienced players and leaders to stand up. And I have got a good feeling that the boys will get that done.”
The Form Men
The DC outfit looked pumped after the last encounter, having won back-to-back games for the first time in IPL 2022 to come within one more win of making the Playoffs.
Mitch Marsh had become a revelation at number 3 for Australia, and he’s brought the same form to the IPL, with consecutive match-winning knocks of 89 and 63 in crunch games.
Fellow Aussie David Warner failed in the last encounter, but that was an anomaly as he has racked up runs and fifties for fun this edition, with 427 runs and 5 half-centuries in just 11 innings.
On the bowling front, Kuldeep has found himself among the wickets again, hitting the mark of 20 for the first time in his IPL career, while Khaleel has shown immense improvement to pick up 16 scalps in just the 9 matches. Lord Shardul Thakur didn’t find himself among a lot of wickets in the first half of the tournament, but made up for it with a 4-fer and a Player of the Match performance against Punjab.
As Ponting mentioned, we will depend on the in-form men and the seniors like Captain Pantastic and Axar Patel to once again contribute in an absolutely massive game that will decide our future in this edition of the IPL.
Stat Attack
The skipper Rishabh Pant has been scoring valuable cameos while the big score still remains due. With a strike rate of 172 at Wankhede and 142 against Mumbai, one can expect a big innings from him tonight as it is the perfect occasion for the Southpaw to deliver.
David Warner has 661 runs in 19 innings against Mumbai making them one of his favorite rival teams. After missing out the first game against them, he will be looking to make it big in this must-win contest.
Khaleel Ahmed has impressed one and all with his performances with the new ball and towards the death, and the left-arm pacer is just 2 wickets away from completing 50 IPL wickets.
Key Battles
Hitman v Bapu
Bapu has only conceded 41 runs in 49 balls and dismissed the Hitman twice. With such a good record against MI’s skipper, Pant will likely depend on Axar in the powerplay to give us a good start with the wicket of the dangerous Rohit Sharma.
Tim David vs Anrich Nortje
Tim David has been at his destructive best, while Anrich Nortje has started finding his rhythm and pace.This explosive death overs battle is one to watch out for.
RP17 v Bumrah
The death overs battle could see Rishabh Pant come up against Jasprit Bumrah. Rishabh has an excellent record at the venue, and he’ll want to come up trumps against one of the best in the business at the death.
Keep your popcorn ready, this Mumbai-Delhi battle is going to be a fiery and enthralling one with a lot at stake for the Capitals.