IPL 2020, Qualifier 1: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals - Match Prediction

Defending champions, Mumbai Indians(MI) will meet the Delhi Capitals(DC) on Thursday in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. Mumbai has beaten Delhi in both the league matches while chasing.

Even though MI lost their final league match against SRH, and Delhi won the last game against Bangalore, Mumbai will start as overwhelming favourites. Two strike pacers in Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada will face off in a battle for the purple cap as well.

The Mumbai wagon faced a halt against SRH as David Warner’s team handed them a 10-wicket loss. However, MI wouldn’t be fazed much by it. Rohit Sharma was coming back from an injury, and they rested their key players – Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Trent Boult – who all will be back in the eleven. Most of the regular players in the MI team have played match-winning roles at some stage in the tournament.

The team looks complete on every front; however, there are few issues that the table-toppers would like to plan about before the playoffs. A dilemmatic decision needs to be taken about Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattinson, who has been wicketless in his last two games.

The fifth bowler, Krunal Pandya, and Kieron Pollard have to be used cautiously by Rohit, as they are vulnerable and can leak runs. Rest, MI is a formidable unit and are two wins away from retaining the title.

While Delhi Capitals defeated RCB to enter the playoffs and finished at the second spot, not all is hunky-dory for the Shreyas Iyer-led side. Delhi, barring a few standout performers, haven’t didn’t looked dominating against Bangalore.

The biggest positive from their victory over RCB will be Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a fifty, and the return to form of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, who was wicketless for two games.

However, Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant are still DC’s major concerns. In the past couple of weeks, an issue of the fifth bowler or the third pacer has emerged for Delhi, which teams have noticed and targeted. Daniel Sams went for 40 runs versus RCB. Delhi will be motivated to post their win on Monday, but Mumbai will provide them with a higher level challenge than Bangalore did.

IPL 2020, Qualifier 1: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals – Match Prediction

When it comes to winning high-pressure matches like the playoffs, more often than not the favourites emerge victoriously- and which better team to thrive under pressure than Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians. As both the teams have a strong bowling line-up, it would be fair to say that the side which bats well – or better than the other – will come out triumphant in the Qualifier. The prediction is for Mumbai to register a third victory of the season over Delhi and romp into the final.

Also Read: It Is Fine, Absolutely: Rohit Sharma Dismisses Fears On His Hamstring Injury