Midway through the tournament, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) looked favorites to play the first qualifier and that is what we have in store today. While MI cruised through, DC did script a typical IPL story and were even staring a possible knockout. But as they say, all's well that ends well and they have finished in the top 2 with winning momentum.
Mumbai Indians had a wonderful season, with outstanding team performances as well as individual brilliance on show. They even afforded resting their key players at different junctures, and still ended at the top of the table. They were the one team whose last game didn’t matter as to where they would end up on the points table, and after resting both their strike bowlers in Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah, with their finisher in Hardik Pandya already rested, suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, went into a sudden slump, almost forgetting how to win, as they suffered four losses in a row. However, in their last league game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, they did well to bounce back and come out on top.
DC would think that they are in a better stead, coming off of a win and a MI coming off a 10-wicket defeat, their first since 2011, but MI are a team seasoned with playing in this phase of the tournament, and coming out on top, more often than not.
DC’s senior men in Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane took lead in the last game and Daniel Sams inclusion seemed like an effective one. DC are likely to go with the same eleven.
MI, on the other hand, would see the return of Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.
Likely 11s:
MI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile/James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
DC: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Daniel Sams, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
