Mumbai Indians (MI) seem to be getting better with their dominance in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 22020 and now they need one more win to defend their title. They thumped the Delhi Capitals (DC) by a huge margin of 57 runs in the first qualifier of the tournament to reach the finals. While it was the duo of Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya with the bat for them, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah wreaked havoc with the bowl by scalping three wickets in the first two overs.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, MI lost their skipper Rohit Sharma on a duck in the second over bowled by Ravi Ashwin. However, Quinton de Kock didn’t slow down from the other end as along with Surykumar Yadav, they smashed 63 runs in the powerplay overs. But Ashwin brought DC back in the game by dismissing De Kock and at the other end, Yadav kept run-flow going but eventually perished after scoring the fifty at the bouncer of Anrich Nortje.
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After Yadav’s dismissal, MI lost the plot as Ashwin got the wicket of the dangerous Kieron Pollard for a second-ball duck. Ishan Kishan and Krunal Pandya then added 39 runs for the fifth wicket rebuilding the innings. The latter was dismissed for just 13 runs only for Hardik Pandya to come out and he smacked teh Delhi bowlers all over the park. Kishan and Hardik smashed as many as 55 runs in the three over of Daniel Sams, Anrich Nortje, and Kagiso Rabada as mi managed to touch the 200-run mark.
During the stiff chase of 200 runs, it took only 8 balls for the duo of Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah to dismiss the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, and Prithvi Shaw and all of them on a duck. DC soon came down to 20/4 with their skipper Shreyas Iyer failing to hang around.
Rishabh Pant’s poor form continued further as he was dismissed soon to leave DC reeling at 41/5. Marcus Stoinis was in no mood of giving up as he along with Axar Patel kept Delhi in the game. They targetted Rahul Chahar by smashing im for 35 runs in his two overs.
WATCH – Shikhar Dhawan Left Flabbergasted By The Fiery Yorker Of Bumrah
Even Kieron Pollard’s third over turned out to be expensive as the 71-run partnership for teh 6th wicket, DC needed 89 runs off the last five overs. Then came back Bumrah to break the partnership and he sent Stoinis’ leg pole for a cartwheel and Bumrah bounced out Daniel Sams in the same over itself. The pacer also owned the purple cap with it taking his tally to 27 scalps in the season which are also the most for an Indian bowler in the history of IPL. Eventually, Mi won teh match by 57 runs by restricting DC to 143 in their 20 overs.
Hits
Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan has been enjoying a consistent run for MI in the recent games for the IPL 2020. He was desperate to score, especially after being ignored for the Indian squad. He amassed as many as 55* runs in just 30 deliveries with the help of four fours and three sixes.
Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah has always been a go-to bowler for MI and he didn’t disappoint when the team needed him. Bowling the second over, he managed to scalp the priced wicket of Shikhar Dhawan with a fiery yorker and when he came back to bowl in the 16th over, he finished with a double-wicket maiden by scalping teh wickets of Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams
Flops
Shikhar Dhawan
It’s the last few games it has been like either Shikhar Dhawan registers 50+ scores or gets out on a duck and in the qualifier, he went for the latter mode. DC hasn’t managed to win a single match when Dhawan had failed.
Ajinkya Rahane
After scoring a match-winning fifty against RCB, Ajinkya Rahane has failed miserably against MI as he was found plumb in front of the brilliant delivery by Trent Boult. For DC to have a chance to reach the final, he needs to play at a better strike-rate.
