Mumbai Indians look to seal IPL playoffs spot against fallible Delhi Capitals
Fighting for the only available play-off spot, Mumbai Indians will take on Delhi Capitals in a potentially decisive showdown here on Wednesday with the five-time champion home team better-placed to advance against the erratic visitors.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's six-wicket thrashing of Lucknow Super Giants on Monday ended the latter's chances of making the final four, leaving Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals to fight it out. Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers have taken the first three knockout phase spots.
Both Mumbai Indians (14 points) and Delhi Capitals (13 points) are in control of their destiny for now, but it is the host side which starts favourite at the Wankhede Stadium.
While MI's win will take them to 16 points and beyond the reach of the Axar Patel-led side, Delhi Capitals need to win both their remaining contests, the last being against Punjab Kings, to sail through.
Mumbai Indians' form and all-round depth tilt the scale in their favour even though they are coming off a narrow loss to Gujarat Titans nearly a fortnight ago. This was after recording six consecutive wins prior to emerge as one of the most formidable teams in the competition.
While a win will carry MI into the playoffs, a defeat will leave their fate on the outcome of the contest between DC and PBKS on May 24, and thus the Mahela Jayawardene-coached side will be eager to put its best foot forward.
Mumbai superstar Rohit Sharma will be the cynosure of all eyes as this will be his first game since announcing his retirement from Test cricket. The veteran batter would be extra motivated to fire on all cylinders and carry his team through.
MI would also want to make the most of their current combination, which features Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch in their playing XI with prominent roles. The two South Africans will leave for national duty before the playoffs, which would be a headache for another day.
Suryakumar Yadav will look to carry on with his prime form with the bat, but MI would need Tilak Varma to rediscover his mojo. The left-handed batter has gone through a quiet phase with the bat which includes three outings for single-digit scores in his last five matches.
The break would have given fast bowlers, including Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult in particular, some extra time to rest and recover but it also saw Delhi Capitals' ace pacer Mitchell Starc (14 wickets) deciding against joining his IPL side.
Starc's absence is a huge void for any side to fill. With the contest being a do-or-die affair without the Australian speedster, who has in the past exploited conditions here at the Wankhede Stadium with the white ball effectively, DC will have to find other ways to succeed.
A lot hinges on KL Rahul's (493 runs) performance, who struck a valiant century against Gujarat Titans but ended on the wrong side of a 10-wicket hammering. It exposed Delhi Capitals' frailties with the ball even though Starc's replacement, Mustafizur Rahman, returned a tight spell.
DC began the IPL with five wins in the first six matches, but wheels have come off their faltering campaign. Kuldeep Yadav (12 wickets) has provided control from one end, but this season has largely been a disappointing one for skipper Patel, whose 263 runs and five wickets so far do not inspire much confidence either.
Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz (wk), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Shrijith Krishnan (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Raj Angad Bawa, Raghu Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, VS Penmetsa, Arjun Tendulkar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (c), Mustafizur Rahman, Abhishek Porel (wk), Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Rizvi, Darshan Nalkande, Tripurana Vijay, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari.
