Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey
Final day of the league stage, and what an amazing finish it’s been. Sunil Gavaskar rightly said it during the RR v RCB game yesterday: “seven teams fighting for four playoff spots. It’s been an amazing IPL.”
I’ve enjoyed every bit of it, and it’s now down to three teams fighting for one playoffs spot.
Unfortunately for Delhi Daredevils, their tournament officially ends today, but the signs they have showed in recent matches must be really encouraging for their fans. Their younger players have given all associated with DD much hope for the future, and their win against CSK shows that they aren’t ready to pack their bags and move onto the next stage of their cricketing journeys just yet.
For Mumbai Indians, the equation is simple – win or be knocked out. MI must be counting their lucky stars in a sense as the team placing the most pressure on them for a playoffs spot were RCB thanks to their positive NRR, but the typical RCB choke came into effect yesterday. Here they have the chance to pull off another amazing escape, after winning just two of their first six matches. Can Rohit Sharma fire in what has been a pretty disappointing campaign for him? With Kieron Pollard finally firing, will MI have too many runs for DD? And can the bowlers put on another disciplined show under pressure? It remains to be seen.
Key to a Delhi Daredevils win
Taking pace off the ball worked beautifully for DD against CSK, stifling the best performing batting line up in the tournament. The onus for MI in a must-win game is mainly on their batsmen to deliver enough runs, so if the DD spinners especially can choke the scoring, we could see the defending champions bundled out of the tournament before the playoffs.
Amit Mishra and Sandeep Lamichhane, both at the opposite ends of their careers, combined brilliantly to dismantle CSK. They picked up a combined 3/41 off eight overs, in conjunction with brilliant spells from Trent Boult and Harshal Patel, to give CSK little chance of chasing 162.
The 160ish total worked brilliantly for RR yesterday, and they dismantled RCB through spin. The same could be the case here for DD on what is expected to be another slowish pitch.
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| Looking forward to seeing the talented Rishabh Pant for one final time in IPL2018 |
Key to a Mumbai Indians win
MI were in big trouble in their batting innings against KXIP, losing their top four within nine overs. Thankfully for them, Kieron Pollard fired at the right time, but MI cannot afford to put themselves in that sort of situation again.
Rohit Sharma has had his worst IPL season to date in terms of runs scored, which is certainly disappointing. However, what’s done is done, and as has usually been the case this season, when Rohit scores well, MI do well. So, he and the top order have a vital role to play in giving the middle/lower order a good platform to launch from.
Also, how well the MI bowlers can keep a lid on DD’s exciting batting line up will be key. Will they be effective in using a mix of deliveries to make scoring difficult? They have the personnel to do that, and today is the day for them to execute as we know they can.
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| MI’s stars need to step up today. |
Predicted teams
Do DD continue to stick with Glenn Maxwell? He has been the victim of plenty of Twitter trolling in recent days, in line with his disappointing tournament. He could be replaced by Jason Roy who was brilliant in delivering victory over MI early in the season, thanks to his 91* off 53 balls in their chase of 194 at the Wankhede.
Delhi Daredevils possible XI: 1. Prithvi Shaw, 2. Jason Roy, 3. Rishabh Pant (wk), 4. Shreyas Iyer (c), 5. Vijay Shankar, 6. Abhishek Sharma, 7. Harshal Patel, 8. Amit Mishra, 9. Sandeep Lamichhane, 10. Trent Boult, 11. Avesh Khan
MI have been pretty consistent with their XIs throughout the tournament, so I expect no changes for them here.
Mumbai Indians possible XI: 1. Evin Lewis, 2. Suryakumar Yadav, 3. Rohit Sharma (c), 4. Ishan Kishan (wk), 5. Hardik Pandya, 6. Kieron Pollard, 7. Krunal Pandya, 8. Ben Cutting, 9. Mitchell McClenaghan, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Mayank Markande
Stats and Facts
- Head-to-Head: Matches 21, DD 10, MI 11
- At the Feroz Shah Kolta Stadium, DD lead MI 5-3.
- Sandeep Lamichhane’s inclusion has been superb for DD. Before he came into the side, DD’s spinners were conceding 8.45 an over with a BPB ratio of 6.6. Since his inclusion, the economy rate has improved to 6.28, with a BPB ratio of 9.8.
- Evin Lewis needs nine runs to reach 3,000 in T20s, and Trent Boult three wickets to reach 100.
- An MI win will knock KXIP and RR out of contention. They have the simplest equation thanks to their NRR.
Prediction
A game vs the bottom placed team doesn’t mean an easy game for MI. CSK can tell them all about that.
However, with so much at stake, and so much experience in their side, I expect them to win and make another remarkable comeback to make the playoffs.
