"Third Man" by Kannan
Qualifier 1, IPL 2020, Delhi vs Mumbai at Dubai on 5th November
Yet another IPL, Yet another qualifier win for the defending champions Mumbai and they storm into the finale in style by demolishing the Capitals, led by the assault by the batsman in the death and fiery opening spell from the double B's - Bumrah and Boult which had the 3 Delhi batsman walk back to the dug out with no runs on the board.
Delhi skipper shreyas won the toss, sent Mumbai into bat at the qualifier 1 played at the wonderful Dubai International stadium - perhaps the only thing which went right in their way was the toss.
Mumbai was off to a flier with De cock getting off the mark with a boundary of the first ball and scoring 14 runs in the first over setting the tone for the innings. The introduction of impressive Ashwin in the power play immediately produced result as he trapped the out of form skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck.
De Cock continued to impress in the company of the man of the moment Surya kumar, both of them matching shot by shot - De cock was clearing the boundaries at ease while Surya Kumar was delightful with his touch play and occasionally exhibiting his muscular power by clearing the fence, the six through the covers of Ashwin was definitely the shot of a man who deserved to wear the Team India Jersey.
The capitals bowling attack, barring Ashwin, was wayward and punished severely by each of the Mumbai batsman who walked in. The intelligent Ashwin brought all his guiles and experience into play and pulled back things by bagging a 3 for and putting a brake on the scoring accounting for the key wickets of De cock and Pollard for a duck, continuing his dominance over the West Indian in the IPL.
Demolition act at the death
At 100/4 in the 13th over, MI would have settled for a score of 170, but the "finisher" hard "hit" Pandya and Ishan Kishan, in his new role down the order, were on a mission " Destroy Delhi" from the word go and were unstoppable hitting barrage of sixes all over the park and handed "Capital punishment" for the Delhi fast bowlers. Pandya (37 of just 14 balls)looks like he is batting on a different planet everytime he walks out at the death , whacking them out of the park effortlessly with his timing and wrist power. Ishan, the pocket size dynamo, is on a cracking form at the business end and no different today - hitting them with brute force and extended bat swing to score a match winning 55 of just 30 balls.
The Last 3 overs going for 55 runs, last 5 overs produced 92 runs - Mission accomplished for the Mumbai Indians and Delhi had an uphill task to chase 201 runs. The form of the key bowlers Rabada, going for plenty and wicketless in last 3 matches, and the express quick Nortje, who was clobbered for 51 runs in his 4 overs, must be hurting Delhi.
Nightmare start for Delhi - 0/3 in 2 overs
chasing 201 for victory, DC would have wanted their openers to fire big to have any chance of getting closer to the target. Facing the Swing and left arm angle of Boult, and the express pace and variations from Bumrah is never going to be easy for the lackluster Prithvi Shaw and Dhawan, who forgot the act of scoring runs after the twin centuries, which looked like happened long time ago.
Prithvi and Rahane failed the fast bowling examination from Boult in the 1st over, getting out for ducks - Tentative Prithvi edged one that went away while Rahane was trapped plumb in front with a "Boult special" that nipped back in. Bumrah, who bowled the 2nd over made Dhawan looked like a tail ender cleaning up with a scorching Yorker bowled at 140+ speed.
At 0/3 by the second over, with the top order back in the dug out, it's all over for the Capitals and just a matter of statistical interest on the margin of defeat. The Double B's have demolished the DC in 12 balls!
Stoinis and Axar saves some pride
When Bumrah scalped the skipper Shreyas, DC was looking like getting bowled out under 100 but for the stroke filled half century from Stoinis and a Cameo from Axar (42 off 33) with some big hits down the ground, proving his credentials as a worthy all rounder.
Bumrah,the man with the purple cap and on a purple patch, returned for a second spell and breathed fire dismissing Stoinis and Sam bagging a well deserving 4 for and eventually the man of the match. Stoinis would not forget the unplayable fast inswinger that rattled his stumps and his reputation.
Head ache for Ponting & co for the Qualifier 2
Delhi managed to score just 143 and managed to lose by a big margin- Their 5th consecutive loss and looking down and out and unless one of the top 3 scores big and bowlers delivers, they are likely to lose the qualifier too against the winner of SRH vs RCB. Prithvi shaw surely needs to be replaced for his poor starts - 5 times getting out in the 1st over, 3 ducks in the last 10 innings, DC must look for changes at the top and changes in the fortunes.
"Magnificent Mumbai into the finals, Delhi down but not out"
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