IPL 2020: Qualifier 1: MI vs DC – Game Plan – Get the bowling match-ups right against MI to have a chance of a victory

MI vs DC – The Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2020 tournament between the teams,  Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, could all be about match-ups. We take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the crucial Qualifier 1 fixture of the IPL – MI vs DC

MI vs DC Qualifier 1: Get the bowling match-ups right

After 56 matches, it is down to the last four matches of the play-offs as the teams gear up for the important phase of the season. Mumbai Indians will be taking on Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier at Dubai and it promises to be an interesting battle.

Mumbai Indians are clearly the form side despite their defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad and it will be a major challenge for Delhi Capitals to get the better of them even though they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore quite comfortably a few days ago.

So, how do Delhi get the better of Mumbai in this clash? First of all, they need regular wickets against a very strong Mumbai batting line-up. Even though Daniel Sams was expensive in the previous match, he could do pretty well against Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. Both Rohit and Suryakumar haven’t been played well against left-arm bowlers superbly this season and even prior. It is a well-known fact that Rohit has been susceptible against the incoming ball from the left-arm seamers for a while.

MI vs DC Qualifier 1: Delhi bowlers and match ups

Just like they did in the last game, Delhi should continue with Ravichandran Ashwin with the new ball. Ashwin bowled pretty economically on that day but he would have to get some wickets in this match. The off-spinner has a fine record against Quinton de Kock and most other Mumbai batsmen too.

By doing this, Delhi can set-up a clash between their South African bowlers who primarily bowl hard lengths against Hardik Pandya and Keiron Pollard who don’t fancy it much. Hardik has been pretty good against proper fast bowlers this season but he is still susceptible against hard lengths.

In fact, the two pacers, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada stand to do the most damage against Mumbai except for the duo of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock who love the ball to come onto the bat nicely.  After an impressive start, Rohit’s season has nosedived somewhat and it remains to be seen whether he can shake off the rust that was quite visible against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last match. Overall, Rohit has been dismissed six times each by pacers and spinners but he has scored at a much better rate against the former. Delhi might rue the fact that they won’t have the services of Amit Mishra since Rohit has been vulnerable against leg-spin this season and in the past too.

In terms of the other batsmen, Ishan Kishan has been kept quiet by right-arm fast medium bowlers, left-arm pacers and off-spin. Against Kishan, it is better to maintain a good length area no matter whether it is a spinner or a pacer. If you err in length, it is better that it is on the shorter side and not full as the southpaw likes to go big down the ground.

MI vs DC Qualifier 1: By phases

Like mentioned earlier, the match-up between Delhi’s quick bowlers and Mumbai’s power-hitters is a key one and it could very well decide the match. The prospect of this is tasty because Mumbai have been the best batting side during the last four overs while Delhi have had the best economy rate in the same period of an innings. In fact, 13 of Kagiso Rabada’s 25 wickets in this season have come in the last four overs of an innings this season. He has benefitted a lot of bowling short and also bouncers with eight of the 13 wickets coming off those hard lengths.

Delhi will hope all these strategies work in this crucial fixture. More importantly, DC will hope that they can win the toss and bowl first because it has become easier to chase down totals off late because of dew. They would also have to be at their very best with the bat as Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult scythed through their batting line-up in the most recent league match.

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