Mumbai favourites to reach final
A place in this year’s final is up for grabs in the first qualifier of this seasons Dream11 Indian Premier League in Dubai on Thursday night with the Mumbai Indians taking on the Delhi Capitals. Mumbai will be the hot favourites considering the way they have played all the way through the group phase whilst the Capitals will take confidence from their win over RCB on Monday.
Fresh Bowlers
The Mumbai Indians made the logical decision in resting their two key bowlers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah in their defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad last time out. Despite the fact that they failed to take a wicket in the match, I think that the hierarchy at Mumbai will be grateful that they have had the chance to rest two of their most important players before such a big game. Captain Rohit Sharma came back in to the side, probably to get himself back up to speed, but he failed to make an impact, scoring just four runs.
Mumbai looked like a side with one eye looking ahead to this match last time out as they struggled to 149-8 from their 20 overs. This is mainly thanks to a quickfire 41 from Kieron Pollard who hit four sixes to boost the Mumbai score, late in the innings. With the ball, they looked pretty toothless without their opening pair and failed to take a wicket as the Sunrisers got home with 17 balls to spare.
These two sides have met twice so far this year and the Mumbai Indians have claimed two big victories, chasing both times.
Turned a corner?
Following four defeats on the bounce, the Delhi Capitals would have been delighted to have a win under their belt going in to this crunch match. It came against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and ensured that they got their place in Qualifier 1 and not the eliminator, meaning they have two shots to get to the final.
They were set a challenging 153 from RCB who would have felt in the game with that score. But two innings of great composure and experience from Ajinkya Rahane (60) and Shikhar Dhawan (54) guided the Capitals to their total with an over to spare.
The Capitals management will be extremely happy with how Anrich Nortje has bowled this year, especially considering he was only a replacement for England seamer Chris Woakes, and wasn’t announced to even be playing in the IPL until August. The South African has bowled five of the six quickest balls in the tournament this year and has taken 19 wickets.
Match Tip
It is very hard to argue against the fact that the reigning champions are looking very strong. With their star bowlers coming back in to the side, they will be back to full strength, and too strong for the Capitals.
I am backing the Mumbai Indians to beat the Delhi Captitals at 1.65 with LeoVegas.
Post bet chat Jack's Tips:
A comfortable win for the reigning champs who booked their place in next week's final by demolishing the Delhi Capitals.