Tuesday will be the first weekday IPL final, and also the first with the capitals of Delhi. His opponents, the Mumbai Indians, have the “psychological advantage,” according to Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma. Whoever wins the title will create history: Mumbai by winning it for the fifth time, the Capitals by their first IPL crown. This is where you can win or lose the match.
Dhawan-Stoinis vs. Bumrah-Boult
No other team has suffered more from a new ball attack from Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult than the Delhi Capitals. Bowlers from the Mumbai strike, who are among the top three wicket bearers in this IPL, have bagged 11 top-order wickets from the capitals in three matches. The next highest on their record are the Chennai Super Kings with eight wickets.
Whether they hit first or chase, Capitals starters Shikhar Dhawan and Marcus Stoinis will have to see the opening outburst from Bumrah and Boult. If they manage to keep the Capitals alive after the first handful of overs, they can take advantage of that safety approach first later with their power hitters.
However, that will not be easy. Just five days ago, at Qualifier-1, both Dhawan and Stoinis were defeated by Bumrah’s fierce pace and precision. Dhawan left with an embarrassed smile after saving the toes of a 142 km / h Yorker, one of the installments of this IPL, which caused him to go crazy. That was the second time Bumrah had Dhawan this season.
He then knocked Stoinis off the stump with a long ball. It was the fourth time he had fired the Australian off-roader at the IPL. But the two starters from the capitals will aim to take on the new guard in Dubai in the final.
Iyer needs to hit hard early
Shreyas Iyer has been the second best rider in the Capitals after Dhawan. However, he has not made a forceful statement with the bat like Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan did for Mumbai.
While Iyer’s total hit rate is 122, his hit rate on the first 10 balls drops to 95.5. The corresponding number for Suryakumar’s first 10 balls is 140. Kishan also starts slowly, hitting 98 of his first 10 balls, but has managed to turn slow starts into high-impact scores. His overall hitting rate is significantly higher than Iyer’s, at 144. Iyer’s positive pace could inject energy into the Capitals’ middle order, which has been shaky during the second half of the tournament.
Can Rahul Chahar recover?
In Qualifier-1, Stoinis disarmed his legs with his two non-wicketless overs going for 35. Chahar has just one wicket in 10 overs against the Capitals in this IPL. He also threw a catch that night, but his captain convinced him to take the team off the field after the win. But Chahar should know that the Capitals hitters are not the most fluid against the leg twist. In fact, Sharma might even allow Chahar one more in the Powerplay to challenge Stoinis, who has lost his wicket half a dozen times to the leg twist in the IPL.
Will Mumbai just hit first in the final?
Mumbai has chosen to hit first in four of the five finals they have played. They have won the title every time. The only time they chased and lost was in 2010 against the Chennai Super Kings. Overall, the teams that hit first have won eight of the 12 IPL finals so far.
It will be interesting to see what the Capitals do if they win the draw, considering Mumbai won twice chasing during the league phase and then finished with a strong victory after being put at bat in Qualifier 1.
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