Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma was extremely happy after his side won against table-toppers Delhi Capitals to reclaim top spot in the points table. Both MI and DC have 10 points from seven matches after winning five and losing two, but MI are ahead-considering the net run-rate.
An aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton De Kock and middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav scored identical scores of 53 after Delhi posted 162/4 after Shikhar Dhawan scored 69 and Shreyas Iyer scored 42. In reply, Rohit Sharma was dismissed early, and Ishan Kishan scored a brisk 28, but Hardik Pandya failed to open his account.
Rohit Sharma: MI Did Everything Right, But There Are Scope Of Improvement
MI’s batsmen were looking on course for a comfortable win but lost 3 wickets for 22 runs, but a late cameo from Krunal Pandya who also picked up 2 wickets ensured MI win by 5 wickets.
“We did everything right, but there are still some things we can improve on. We were good with the ball and restricted them to 160-odd. Clinical with the bat, but not so much towards the end,” he said.
“We need one set batsman to finish off the game in general, and some set batsmen got out today, but I don’t want to point fingers because chasing has been difficult in this tournament,” Sharma added.
Mumbai Indians lost only against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Super Over and CSK in their first match which was also the opening encounter in IPL 2020. MI next face KKR, a team they have beaten previously in IPL 2020 by 49 runs. KKR face RCB next and then MI whereas second-placed Delhi Capitals face Rajasthan Royals who Delhi had beaten by 46 runs in the first leg.
Mumbai Indians Have A Strong Pace Attack While Delhi Capitals Have Best Batting Line-up
KKR’s match against RCB on 12th October will see every team playing seven games after which the much talked about mid-season transfer will take place. Only KKR and RCB have played six games- one match less than the other teams.
Mumbai Indians have an NRR of +1.32 and Delhi Capitals have an NRR of +1.03, but defending champions and maximum IPL four-time winners Mumbai Indians will look to defend their title.
Delhi Capitals are yet to win IPL even once but have a great team even with Amit Mishra ruled out with an injury of IPL 2020 after featuring in a few games and veteran pacer Ishant Sharma plagued by injury concerns.
Mumbai Indians haven’t played the dashing opening batsman Chris Lynn, but they have the best pace attack consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, James Pattinson and Trent Boult. All-rounders Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard have also delivered when needed most.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals consist of batsmen like skipper Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahjane, Shimron Hetmyer, Prithvi Shaw besides all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel.
Pacer Kagiso Rabada is the leading wicket-taker while Anrich Nortje has also performed well. Kagiso Rabada has 17 wickets and is trailed by MI’s Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult both of whom has 11 scalps.