Many small battles are expected to unfold when the season’s two most consistent teams – Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals – cross swords in a clash of heavyweights in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Be it a potent top-order, a strong middle-order or a lethal bowling attack, there is hardly anything that separates the two sides.
If at all one team has a slight upper hand in any department, it’s the experience in Mumbai Indians’ pace bowling arsenal. Both Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, with years of experience behind them, could be the difference in the most sought-after contest of this edition.
It means that Shikhar Dhawan will have to strive harder to give the Capitals a solid start. The left-handed batsman has got starts in the last few games but needs a bigger innings under his belt and if it comes in a big contest, Capitals will have gained a lot.
MI results in IPL 2020
| Match | Day/Date/Time | Venue | Result | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MI vs CSK | 19 Sep, Sat (1930) | Abu Dhabi | MI lost by 5 wickets | 0 |
| KKR vs MI | 23 Sep, Wed (1930) | Abu Dhabi | MI won by 49 runs | 2 |
| RCB vs MI | 28 Sep, Mon (1930) | Dubai | MI lost in Super Over | 2 |
| KXIP vs MI | 1 Oct, Thu (1930) | Abu Dhabi | MI won by 48 runs | 4 |
| MI vs SRH | 4 Oct, Sun (1530) | Sharjah | MI won by 34 runs | 6 |
| MI vs RR | 6 Oct, Tue (1930) | Abu Dhabi | MI won by 57 runs | 8 |
DC results in IPL 2020
| Match | Day/Date/Time | Venue | Result | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC vs KXIP | 20 Sep, Sun (1930) | Dubai | DC won Super Over after match was tied | 2 |
| CSK vs DC | 25 Sep, Fri (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 44 runs | 4 |
| DC vs SRH | 29 Sep, Tue (1930) | Abu Dhabi | DC lost by 15 runs | 4 |
| DC vs KKR | 3 Oct, Sat (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 18 runs | 6 |
| RCB vs DC | 5 Oct, Mon (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 59 runs | 8 |
| RR vs DC | 9 Oct, Fri (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 46 runs | 10 |
Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant will face a stern test when they face Bumrah and Boult, who can trouble any batsman with their pace and accuracy. The good news for Capitals is Shimron Hetmyer finding form with the innings against Rajasthan Royals on Friday.
Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer has been very impressive so far both as a batsman and as the leader of the pack. It will be interesting to see how he uses his resources against his in-form counterpart Rohit Sharma and the smashing middle-order duo of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard.
They can change the complexion of the game within a couple of overs and handling them will be the key. Krunal Pandya, too, is capable of conjuring up cameos that can turn things around for Mumbai Indians.
Iyer has the exciting South African pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje to do the job in that department. The guile of Ravichandran Ashwin further adds sting to Capitals’ attack.
Axar Patel has nicely settled into the side after he replaced the injured Amit Mishra. His all-round ability is another plus for the Capitals.
At the big Abu Dhabi ground, a score in the vicinity of 170 is normally par for any other side in the IPL, but for Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, even 200 may not appear safe.
Head-to-head
| Mat | MI wins | DC wins | MI win% | DC win% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MI vs DC | 24 | 12 | 12 | 50% | 50% |
MI squad
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | Dhawal Kulkarni | Hardik Pandya | Ishan Kishan |
| Sherfane Rutherford | Jasprit Bumrah | Jayant Yadav | Quinton de Kock |
| Suryakumar Yadav | James Pattinson | Kieron Pollard | Aditya Tare |
| Anmolpreet Singh | Mitchell McClenaghan | Krunal Pandya | |
| Chris Lynn | Rahul Chahar | Anukul Roy | |
| Saurabh Tiwary | Trent Boult | Digvijay Deshmukh | |
| Nathan Coulter-Nile | Prince Balwant Rai Singh | ||
| Mohsin Khan |
DC squad
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shreyas Iyer | Ishant Sharma | Axar Patel | Rishabh Pant |
| Prithvi Shaw | Amit Mishra | Harshal Patel | Alex Carey |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Avesh Khan | R Ashwin | |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Sandeep Lamichhane | Lalit Yadav | |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Kagiso Rabada | Marcus Stoinis | |
| Keemo Paul | Daniel Sams | ||
| Mohit Sharma | |||
| Tushar Deshpande | |||
| Anrich Nortje |
Match starts at 7.30 pm IST and will be live on Star Sports network / Disney+ Hotstar
(With PTI inputs)