Sensational bowling from Mumbai Indians' lethal speedsters Jasprit Bumrah (3/17) and Trent Boult (3/21) left Delhi Capitals in tatters and restricted them to 110/9 on Saturday at Dubai International Stadium. Delhi Capitals' half of the batting lineup was send back to the dugout by MI bowlers for less than 75 runs on board. The franchise got a really bad start in the match as both their openers Dhawan (0) and Shaw (10) were dismissed early on by Trent Boult. DC will be looking to get back to winning ways after losing their last three games while MI will look to consolidate on the top spot with a win today.
Mumbai decided to bowl after winning the toss. Defending champions Mumbai's place in the playoffs has been confirmed with the victory of Chennai Super Kings against Delhi on Thursday. Delhi Capitals aim to reach the playoffs with win over Mumbai Indians. Delhi have 14 points from 12 matches and defeating the defending champs will power them to 16 points. With this, they will almost make it to the play-offs. With only 6 games to go and 3 playoff spots yet to be sealed.
For Delhi, Dhawan and Shaw came out to in the middle to start the proceedings. Trent Boult struck twice in the early overs to dismiss both Delhi openers Shikhar Dhawan (0) and Prithvi Shaw (10) early on. This was the second successive duck for Dhawan. Rishabh Pant was the new man in as he joined Shreyas Iyer in the middle.
Just when it seemed that DC might pull themselves back in the game on the back of a strong partnership between Pant and Iyer. Rahul Chahar cleaned up Shreyas Iyer in his first over. The sensational spinner bowled a lovely fligted delivery to fox Iyer and wicket-keeper Quniton de Kock had Iyer (25) stumped in a flash.
When Shreyas Iyer fell in the 11th, Delhi's run rate was languishing under five runs per over. To make things from bad to worse for Delhi, Jasprit Bumrah bowled a peach of a delivery to dismiss Marcus Stoinis for just two runs and take his wicket-tally to 21 -- the most number of wickets he has bagged in one season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
The sensational 12th over from Bumrah turned out to be a nightmare for Delhi Capitals as after getting Stoinis (2) caught behind by a juggling De Kock, he trapped in-form Rishabh Pant (21) in front of the stumps for a LBW out. Delhi Capitals innings and season continued to fall apart and their wickets continue to fall like a pack of cards.
DC were left 87/7 wickets at the end of the 16th over. Kagiso Rabada led the effort from the lower middle order and took them past the 100-run mark.
Brief scores: DC 110/9 wkts in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 25, Rishabh Pant 21; Jasprit Bumrah 3/17)
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard(c), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Dubey, Anrich Nortje