High on confidence after their third consecutive victory, Mumbai Indians will hold a clear edge over the inconsistent Delhi Daredevils at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday. The comprehensive 23-run victory over bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab at Mohali has given the resurgent MI the perfect shot in the arm to take on Daredevils who have blown hot and cold this season and were beaten convincingly by Rajasthan Royals on Sunday night.
MI can take a lot of positives into Tuesday’s game against a rival which is placed one rung above because of a superior net run rate — both having 8 points from 9 games and occupying the sixth and seventh slots after Sunday’s games. The return to form of struggling opener Parthiv Patel, who made a half century besides putting on a near-century stand with fellow-opener lendl Simmons, bodes well for the home team.
Daredevils, who had a poor game on Sunday overall and fielded woefully, need to regroup quickly and take advantage of the travel-weariness of MI. There’s a question mark over the poor run of Yuvraj Singh who hit Royals’ Dhawal Kulkarni for three silken-smooth boundaries in one over, before departing immediately afterwards. Duminy skirted the query while also backing the under-performing national discard.
Mumbai go into the game aware of the pitfalls as another defeat could scuttle their qualifying hopes. Injured all-rounder Corey Anderson was seen bowling at his normal pace after joining the Mumbai Indians squad at its practice session on Monday.