Key points:
- On Thursday evening at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the all-round strength of MI rose to the fore as they easily beat DC.
- But, even that batting display was dominated by how, inside the first eight balls of the chase.
- The early impetus was given to MI by Quinton De Kock (40 off 25 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (51 off 38 balls).
- Later on, during the middle overs, Ishan Kishan soaked up the pressure to crack Capital’s bowling plans.
- Two hundred was always going to be a challenging issue.
How strong are the Mumbai Indians as a team? They may well be worthy of the tag of the best T20 outfit in the history of franchise cricket after dishing out their most dominant IPL 13 results in the first play-off against Delhi Capitals.
MI second straight in IPL Final:
On Thursday evening at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the all-round strength of MI rose to the fore as they easily beat DC, rampaging into their second straight IPL final.
Delhi will now have to wait for Sunday after the 57-run rout, in which they will meet the winner of the eliminator on Friday to make their maiden final.
MI the Comeback King:
The most spectacular aspect of the defending champions’ performance was their comeback from tough situations; they bounced back every time DC put them under pressure after putting them in the bat.
Delhi’s bowling attack was still smashed for 200 runs without any contribution from the bat from two of their top players, Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard.
Boult and Bumrah the star of the match:
But, even that batting display was dominated by how, inside the first eight balls of the chase, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah blew away the top-order Capitals. With DC’s zero to three rankings, the contest was as successful as it was done.
Ashwin the only MI challenger:
Because of the dew effect in the second half of the match, winning the toss is considered a major advantage, but MI’s batsmen neutralized it with a powerful total on the board.
The only player to challenge MI with an impressive score of three wickets of 29 runs was Delhi’s R Ashwin.
Highest six-over score in IPL 2020:
The early impetus was given to MI by Quinton De Kock (40 off 25 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (51 off 38 balls). By capitalizing on the powerplay overs to raise the score to 63 for one, their highest six-over score in this IPL, they ensured that Captain Sharma’s early loss did not affect them.
The Dominating partnership by Hardik and Ishan:
Later on, during the middle overs, Ishan Kishan soaked up the pressure to crack Capital’s bowling plans. It was his Hardik Pandya partnership that took the wind out of the hands of the Capitals.
After stuttering between overs 11 and 14, MI added 92 runs over the last six overs, when they got only 15 runs from four overs.
Bad day for Rabada and Nortje:
How their speedsters, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, were taken apart was what hurt Delhi the most. The two admitted there were as many as 92 runs between them, most of them in this IPL in an innings.
This was largely attributed to a late offensive by Hardik and the counter-attack by Kishan. Hardik waded into Daniel Sams, Rabada, and Nortje in the last three overs alone to finish off the series with 17, 18, and 20-run overs. In 23 balls, the two placed 60 runs.
Two hundred was always going to be a challenging issue. But once both Bumrah and Boult bowled a double-wicket maiden each, Boult in the first over and Bumrah during the last rites, tough became even harder.
