Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals face off in IPL 2020 Qualifier 1 in Dubai on Thursday. The two teams finished first and second on the points table after the completion of the group stage. Mumbai won both the games in the league stage of IPL 2020.
Delhi have a job on their hands if they want to topple the best side in this IPL season. The winner of the game heads straight to the final, while a loss for one of the teams allows them to play a second qualifier on November 8.
Mumbai Indians have had a smoother route to qualifying for the playoffs than their counterparts. Out of the five defeats in the league stage, they lost two games in the Super Over. While they won nine games and looked dominant in those two games.
In the second leg against Delhi Capitals, they bowled them out under 120 and won the game by nine wickets. Thus heading into the first qualifier, Mumbai Indians will be the more relaxed team than Delhi, despite their defeat in the last game against SRH.
Also Read: We Can Take Advantage of Rohit’s Lack of Form in Qualifier 1-Shikhar Dhawan
IPL 2020 Qualifier 1: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, will be wary of the fact that they were beaten twice by Mumbai in the league stage. The pressure of making it to their first-ever final will add to the expectations of the franchise and for its fans. They head into the contest on the back of four losses, which makes the equation all the more difficult. Their win against RCB in the last game will give them some hope but they know that the contest is tough.
Pitch & Weather Conditions
The wickets have become a bit sluggish after the influx of dew in the last few games. The temperature is expected to hover around the late 20s, which shouldn’t be testing on the players. There will not be much of wind blowing across the ground.
Team News
Mumbai Indians will see the return of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Hardik Pandya after they were rested in their last league game. Rohit also returned fully fit, which will keep the defending champions in good stead ahead of IPL 2020 Qualifier 1.
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, will not like to change the winning squad which produced the results against RCB. They would be ideally hoping for a repeat of their performance in the IPL 2020 Qualifier 1.
Squads
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Digvijay Deshmukh, Aditya Tare (wk), Saurabh Tiwary, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Rahul Chahar, Chris Lynn, Hardik Pandya, Sherfane Rutherford, Anmolpreet Singh, Mohsin Khan, Mitchell McClenaghan, Prince Balwant Rai, Anukul Roy, Ishan Kishan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Trent Boult, Jayant Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson
Delhi Capitals
Shreyas Iyer (c), Kagiso Rabada, Marcus Stoinis, Sandeep Lamichhane, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Alex Carey, Mohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Lalit Yadav, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Tushar Deshpande, Rishabh Pant, Harshal Patel, Keemo Paul, Anrich Nortje, Daniel Sams, Praveen Dubey
Also Read: Top Scores of Respective Franchises in IPL 2020