In the first qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) locking horns with the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. MI has been the most consistent team in the IPL 202 as compared to the other franchises, who have qualified for the playoffs and as a result, they have finished at the top.
DC was also quite dominating in the tournament before suffering losses in four consecutive games which significantly exposed their vulnerabilities in the process. Ricky Ponting will aim to iron out the creases and will be aiming to put a refreshed DC take the field against the might of MI. MI rested their premier fast bowlers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday and they suffered a 10-wicket thrashing.
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However, that doesn’t mean they have suddenly lost their momentum. It was their final league match before the playoffs and they wanted to give a couple of players chances before the all-important matches. They will be back to full strength and with skipper Rohit Sharma also recovering from a hamstring injury, MI will be flushed with confidence.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Rohit Sharma didn’t look in trouble after returning from a hamstring injury during the match against SRH. He should lead the team in the playoffs, which is also likely to see the return of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Hardik Pandya. With a full-strength squad, MI will be a team to beat.
Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile/James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Even as Daniel Sams proved expensive in the death overs, Delhi Capitals earned rich dividends of his presence in the bowling line-up. DC is unlikely to make any changes with Shimron Hetmyer likely to remain on the bench.
Probable XI: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Daniel Sams, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
