DD vs MI IPL 2018 Match 55 preview: Mumbai fight Delhi for a place in the playoffs

Mumbai Indians (MI) have their fate in their own hands when they take on Delhi Daredevils (DD) for a place in the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday. Delhi who are at the bottom of the points table have no chance of qualifying and would be doing the other teams a favour by taking down a resurgent Mumbai.

Mumbai come into this game on the back of a nail biting victory against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). MI powered by Kieron Pollard’s 50 off 23 and Krunal Pandya’s 32 posted a total of 186 for KXIP to chase. KL Rahul then played a brave knock taking KXIP to within touching distance of victory with his 94 off 60 balls. Aaron Finch was the next highest scorer with 46 runs to his name as none of the other KXIP batsmen showed up for the game. The KXIP fightback was finally put to rest, when Rahul was dismissed in the 19^th over by Bumrah, who ended the night with stunning figures of 3/15, as MI won the game by 3 runs.

Delhi come into this game on the back of a morale boosting victory against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). DD who are already eliminated in the tournament, put on a spirited performance as they posted 162/5 for CSK to chase. Their bowlers led by Amit Mishra and Trent Boult who picked up two wickets each then restricted CSK to just 128/6 in their 20 overs taking the Daredevils to a 34-run victory.

Match Details:
Timing – 4 pm
Venue – Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.
Where to watch – Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD

Head to head – The teams have played each other 21 times in the past and the stat is pretty well balanced with Mumbai having 11 wins as compared to Delhi’s 10.

Team News:
Shreyas Iyer wouldn’t want to tamper much with the match winning combination that beat CSK comprehensively in their previous outing. He could be tempted to drop the underperforming Glenn Maxwell who hasn’t made much of an impact in the recent past.

Mumbai too will be expected to come into the game unchanged especially given the high stakes involved for them in this encounter.

Prediction: who will win?
Mumbai put on a spirited performance in their previous outing to beat Punjab and keep themselves alive in the competition. They will be expected to replicate that form and come out on top once again when they take the field this evening.

Betting odds: According to Oddscheker.com the odds are placed at 20/11 for DD and 1/2 for MI.

Feroz Shah Kotla Pitch Report: The pitch at the Kotla has been slow and without much bounce on offer. However, the small boundaries do help the batsmen clear the ropes easily. We should be in for a high scoring encounter given the firepower in both team’s squads.

MC Dream XI: R Pant (wk), K Pollard, S Yadav, R Sharma, S Iyer, H Pandya, S Lamichhane, T Boult, J Bumrah, M Markande and A Mishra.

Players to watch out for:
Rishabh Pant (DD) – The wicket-keeper batsman has been in swashbuckling form this season, he is currently Delhi’s highest scorer with 620 runs to his name from just 13 matches. Mumbai will be wary of the left hander who can be unstoppable once he gets into the groove.

Jasprit Bumrah (MI) – Bumrah has been outstanding with the ball this season with 16 wickets to his name from just 13 outings. His 3/15 in the previous game was the game changer for Mumbai as he dismissed all the in-form batsmen including the dangerous KL Rahul. Mumbai will be backing him to give them the breakthrough once again this evening.

IPL points table:
Mumbai are currently fifth on the table, one place below the final playoffs spot. A win tonight will take them up to fourth place and into the playoffs. Delhi sit right at the bottom of the table with eight points. Check out the updated points table here.