In a breathtaking performance, Mumbai Indians pick up a massive 57-run win over Delhi Capitals to storm into the final for the second year in a row. Also, Mumbai Indians have become the first team to enter IPL finals for the 6th time and are looking for a very strong contender for their 5th IPL title.
MI was asked to bat first, meaning their bowlers had to deal with the dew in the second half, but their batsmen offset that disadvantage by muscling them to an above-par 200 for 5.
Batting first, Mumbai Indians scored 200 for 5 in 20 overs. It was R Ashwin who took the maximum 3 wickets in his 4 overs by giving 29 runs from Delhi’s side. In response, Delhi Capitals was no match for the MI fast bowling duo of Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah.
Chasing a daunting 201, Delhi Capitals could only manage 143/8 in 20 overs.
During a sideline interview, their coach Mahela Jayawardene said that they were eyeing 170; they got 30 more.
Mumbai Indians lost skipper Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard for ducks, but firing cameos from Hardik Pandya (37, 14b, 5×6) and Ishan Kishan (55 not out, 30b, 4×4, 3×6) made them put a good strong target of 200.
In reply, Delhi Capitals had a nightmare start. Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah made Mumbai’s already tall total of 200 like the Burj Khalifa by leaving them 0 runs for 3 wickets!
Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan were unable to even open their strike. In fact, the first run on the board by Delhi Capitals came in the second over in the form of a wide by Bumrah.
Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel tried to avoid the ignominy by putting on 71 off 44 balls for the sixth wicket but all that wasn’t enough to beat the massive target set by the Mumbai Indians. Jasprit Bumrah took the most 4 wickets from the Mumbai Indians side. He is also currently leading the Purple Cap tally with 27 wickets. Trent Boult also took 2 wickets in the match and provided a great start to the team. Trent Boult has 22 wickets to his name in this IPL.
With the lethal bowling from the MI side, Delhi Capitals were only able to score 143 in reply to 200 of Mumbai Indians.
Delhi Capitals have one more chance
Since DC finished second on the point table, they will get another chance to still make it to the finals of IPL 2020. After losing the eliminator, Delhi Capitals will have another shot at finals on Sunday in Qualifier 2. They will take on the winners of the eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore.
MI has won the IPL title 4 times and is defending champions. Earlier there have won the IPL titles in 2013, 2015, 2017 & 2019.
Mumbai Indians have only lost only once after entering into finals. It was the IPL 2010 finals where MI was beaten by CSK in finals.