The 46th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be played between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) in the afternoon game on 2nd October at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. DC has been enjoying a brilliant run in the season with 8 wins in 11 matches, they are standing second on the points table. On the other hand, MI has had a hot and cold season so far and has managed to grab 5 wins in their 11 matches, they are placed 5th on the table.
In their last game against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Abu Dhabi, MI won the game by 6 wickets. Punjab Kings batted first and managed 135 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Bumrah and Pollard picked a couple of wickets each, while Krunal and Rahul Chahar got a wicket each. MI Indians chased down this total with an over to spare, credits to Saurabh Tiwary (45) and Hardik Pandya (40) for their useful contributions.
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On the other hand, DC suffered a 3-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Sharjah. DC amassed just 127 runs in the first innings for the loss of 9 wickets. KKR chased this down with 10 balls to spare. Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers once again, hunting down 3 scalps. The two teams have met on 29 occasions in the history of IPL and when they locked horns the last in India, DC defeated MI by 6 wickets.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Hardik Pandya isn’t fully fit to resume bowling again. There is every reason for MI to start with Jasprit Bumrah in the powerplay. The pacer has had the better of Rishabh Pant, dismissing the ‘keeper-bat six times in 36 balls, and could bowl a couple of overs in the middle to have the best shot at dismissing the explosive DC skipper. It would also be interesting to see if MI prefers playing Ishan Kishan over Suryakumar Yadav on the slow Sharjah surface.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav/Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile/Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Even as Prithvi Shaw and Marcus Stoinis are recovering well, they haven’t reached complete fitness. R Ashwin could be brought in early into the attack as the office has troubled both the MI openers – Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma. The latter has struggled against Delhi’s spin duo of Axar Patel and Ashwin, having scored only 33 runs in 44 balls against the former and 105 off 115 against the latter. Amit Mishra hasn’t played a game in this leg but he has dismissed Rohit seven times in IPL.
Probable XI: Steve Smith, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c/wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje/Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan
Fantasy XI Suggestion 1:
Quinton de Kock, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan (C), Kieron Pollard, Shreyas Iyer, Krunal Pandya, Lalit Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Coulter-Nile
Fantasy XI Suggestion 2:
Quinton de Kock (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
