Delhi Capitals are set to take on Mumbai Indians in the season’s first afternoon encounter on Saturday at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Both sides are coming off tremendous victories in their past encounters.
Mumbai Indians come riding the high of a dominant, run-filled performance that gave them a strong start to their campaign. Their batting unit clicked in unison, showcasing power and attacking intent. The charge was led by their senior openers Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma, who fired on all cylinders to power the side to a thumping win over KKR.
Their timing, placement, and controlled aggression defined the knock as they stitched a strong partnership to take the pressure off the lower order. More importantly, the combination of right-hand and left-hand aggression has proven to be incredibly successful. Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, had to dig deep to secure their win. Their chase began in disastrous fashion, with early wickets putting them under immense pressure.
At one stage, the match seemed to be slipping away, but young star Sameer Rizvi, smashing an unbeaten 70, helped the side recover from early setbacks and clinch the victory. Heading into this match, Delhi’s biggest concern remains their top order, which remained out of touch. They will look to address these concerns to mount a serious challenge against Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, will look to maintain the momentum to clinch their second consecutive victory of the tournament.
Head-to-head
Matches - 37
Delhi Capitals won - 16
Mumbai Indians won - 21
Delhi Capitals likely XII: KL Rahul (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel (c), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan
Mumbai Indians likely XII: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande, Trent Boult