Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 27th match of IPL 2020.
The match will take place in the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Overall, in IPL 2020, MI have played 6 games and won 4, whereas DC have played 6 games and won 5. These two teams have performed fantastically throughout the tournament.
Head to Head
The Head to Head between these two teams is bang even.
In total, they have played 24 matches and have shared the spoils winning 12 matches each.
The crucial stat about this head to head is that DC have won 3 of the last 4 games played amongst them.
Squads
Top Players of MI & DC
MI:
Rohit Sharma: If we look at his last three innings, he made a quickfire 35 versus RR but he got out early at Sharjah against SRH and scored 70 against KXIP. This year he has scored 211 runs at a strike rate of 145.41. If we look at his record against DC, he has played 25 innings in which he has scored 745 runs at an average of 33.86 and a strike rate of 135.20. His batting average, as well as his strike rate, goes a notch up against, that means he likes playing against them. MI will hope that he brings his A-game today against the league toppers.
K Pollard: He has looked devastating with the bat in the last 4 innings that he has played, he hasn't got out. His scores of 25* off 13, 47* off 27, 60* off 24, speaks volumes about his form. He quite easily MI's most in-form batsman. DC have a very good bowling lineup and to take them apart one would not only require good power but the good presence of mind as well. Pollard is capable of destroying any bowling lineup with his power and MI would rely heavily on him to finish the game with a flourish.
J Bumrah: He has looked a bit scratchy in patches yet brilliant in some. Irrespective he has been amongst the wicket-takers in 5 of the 6 matches that he has played. In the previous match, He bamboozled RR with his spell of 20 for 4 wickets. DC has some attacking players such as R Pant & M Stoinis who could hit the ball long way. Bumrah has a big role to play in today's match because almost all their batsmen look to be in good touch.
Q de Kock: He played a miniature but aggressive innings against RR in the previous match scoring 25 runs off 15 balls and 67 runs off 39 balls against SRH in the match before. Overall, he hasn't performed as well as expected from him as yet. MI would want him to get a good start along with Rohit to get on the top from the onset.
H Pandya: His innings of 30 off 19 balls was instrumental against RR. He along with Yadav attacked RR bowlers towards the end to help MI post mammoth score of 193 against them. He also played a quickfire inning of 30 off 11 balls against KXIP and also had a decent outing against SRH in Sharjah. He has played some very good cricket in the last three innings that he has batted. He could be the danger man for DC in today's match.
DC:
S Iyer: He made 22 runs off 18 balls in the previous match against RR but got run out in that match. In the match before that, he took full advantage of small boundaries of the Sharjah cricket ground and slammed 6 sixes against KKR to return to form. Although if we remove his 88 runs off 38 balls against KKR, he has scored 115 runs off 106 balls in the remaining four matches. He has to score quickly against MI else they have a bowling lineup that can choke a batsman who is playing under pressure. Iyer the captain is much more consistent than Iyer the player.
M Stoinis: He has already played three crucial knocks for DC this season. He scored 39 off 30 against RR in the previous match, while he hammered RCB in the match before in which he scored 53 off 26 balls. He has been very aggressive with the bat this year, so far in 6 games, he has scored 162 runs at a strike rate of 176.08 which is phenomenal. He has been expensive with the ball but can be handy if the situation demands as was in the first match against KXIP.
R Pant: Pant got out for 5 runs in the match against RR but in the match before that against RCB, he played a solid inning of 37 of 25 balls against RCB. He has played a few good cameos for DC so far in the tournament but is yet to score a fifty. He has a very good strike rate of 168.46 against MI and would be a crucial wicket for MI.
K Rabada: He has picked up 15 wickets so far and leads the list of wicket-takers this year. Against RR in the previous match, he picked up 3 wickets giving away 35 runs. He has picked up a wicket in every match that he has bowled in this tournament. It would be a treat to watch Bumrah and K Rabada bowl today, arguably the best two fast bowlers of the world today.
S Dhawan: He got out early in the previous match against RR and overall he has failed to capitalize on good starts that he has got while batting. Barring the first and the last match that he has played; his scores of 32, 26, 34 & 35 prove that he is in decent touch with the bat. He has a solid record against MI, he is the 3rd highest run-scorer against them. Overall against MI, he has scored 664 runs at an average of 41.50 and a strike rate of 129.18.
Likely Playing 11
Other Players to watch out for
R Chahar (MI): His leg-spin versus S Iyer and M Stoinis could be exciting to watch.
A Patel (DC)/ R Ashwin (DC): This Duo of bowlers have been very good with the bowl for Delhi, R Ashwin might be introduced early in the innings to counter R Sharma earlier in the innings. The performance of these two bowlers could ultimately decide the outcome of the match positive or negative we will see.
To conclude, It is extremely difficult to choose a winner between the two sides. DC have been magnificent this year whereas MI are also peaking at the right time. Statistically, MI is one of the only lineups which looks stronger than DC on paper. I believe MI would topple DC in today's match considering Dhawan is going to get out early in today's match.