DC cool it off with Bhangra before first ever finale in their history

Ponting praises Dhawan-Stoinis, backs them to win trophy for Capitals

Former Australia captain and Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting praised Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan, for their brilliant showing in this season’s IPL and especially for the way they batted in the second qualifier against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Stoinis scored a fiery 38 in the match against Sunrisers and was a prime reason for giving Delhi the flying start they were always looking for. Saying that he always wanted an opportunity to bat up in the order, Ponting said that Stoinis really utilized the opportunity given to him. “Marcus has been dying for an opportunity to bat further up the order but our team balance didn’t allow it in the first part of the tournament. With Prithvi and Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane) both being there, it was difficult to give Stoinis opportunity up the order,” he said. “But every time he got the opportunity he played really well. He is a vastly improved player than he was 12 months ago. He was craving for that opportunity,” added the 45-year-old. Talking about Dhawan, Ponting said that he is probably having the best season of his IPL career and must cash it in for Delhi’s success in the finals in Dubai. “Shikhar is probably having his best season and that’s really very good signs for us,” said Ponting. Both these players have actually been the top performers for Delhi. While Stoinis has scored 352 runs and taken 12 wickets in the series so far, Dhawan is also the second-highest run-scorer with 603 runs from 16 games, just 67 runs behind KL Rahul in the race for the Orange Cap.

IPL 2020: Trent Boult recovers from injury ahead of the final

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is confident that ace speedster Trent Boult would play in the finals against Delhi Capitals which would be held in Dubai. "Trent looks pretty good. He is going to have a session with us today and then we will see how he goes. He pulled up pretty well in the last few days, so fingers crossed. Hopefully, he plays," Rohit told the press on the eve of the final. Boult, who has been phenomenal alongside Jasprit Bumrah for the MI, got injured in the first qualifier against Delhi and was taken off the field after completing only his two overs. Praising the Kiwi quick, Rohit said that the team was always looking to have someone like Boult in their squad. "We wanted someone who could bowl with the new ball and get those wickets in the Powerplay. Trent is the best with the new ball when it comes to swinging the ball back to the batsman. He has not disappointed," Rohit said. He also said that Boult has been impressive even in the middle overs and also in death. "He has bowled well in the middle overs and also at the backend a few times. He is an asset for the squad and let's hope he can do for more time for us," the skipper added. It has been an amazing season for Boult who has picked up 22 wickets from 14 games. The fact that he has taken 14 wickets in the power plays and struck an unbelievable seven times in the first over itself, makes his role even more important.

IPL 2020: Ricky Ponting warns MI, says best of Delhi yet to come

Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting has warned his opponents in the finals- Mumbai Indians saying that Delhi’s best is yet to come. “It didn’t matter that we lost games,” he said. “Each team won a couple, lost a couple but all of our losses came in a group and it was hard to change the momentum, but the boys did it and we find ourselves in the final and I think our best cricket is yet to come,” added the former Australia captain. Ponting said that he was happy with the results and it has been a good season for the team despite the tumble in the middle. “Looking back now we are happy, it’s been a good season but we are here to win the IPL and we will give it our best shot,” Ponting said in the pre-match conference. “We got off to a good start but were a bit shaky towards the end but the boys have managed to really play two very good games out of three, and hopefully, we can play our best game in the final,” he added. Talking about the pressure of the final game, Ponting was confident that his team would not crumble under pressure and rather enjoy it. “Thankfully, I have coached one before and I was a part of another team as captain, so I know what it’s like to be,” he said. “The most important thing in big games like this is not to try hard, it’s just another game. We need to enjoy that, try to embrace the extra nerves that come with the final. All we have is given ourselves the right to play in the final, and now got to go and win that final,” Ponting added. Playing against Mumbai has really been a problem this season for the Capitals and acknowledging that, the 45-year-old said, “We have been long away from the best we have played against Mumbai so far. We will try and address some of the areas that we haven’t played against Mumbai in the past -- Powerplay batting, death bowling are some.” Along with it, he said that if they play to their best potential, there is no reason why they can’t win the final in Dubai.

MI vs DC - Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

The much-awaited IPL 2020 final is here. It took 59 matches, multiple super overs, heartbreaks, a rare Chennai Super Kings off-season, and above all a league successfully run amidst a raging pandemic to get here and we cannot wait for an epic clash scheduled to be played out in the Dubai International Stadium on 10 November 2020. The two teams involved i.e. Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have traveled through two very different paths to get to the same destination. While Mumbai have been clearly dominated by their opponents in most of their encounters, Delhi faltered in the latter part of the tournament losing 5 matches in a row. But having overcome the 5-match losing streak, Delhi must be credited for the courage they showed against an in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second Qualifier of the tournament. Capitals Have Nothing to Lose Delhi Capitals have made it to the IPL finals for the first time in their and the league's 13-year-old history. As Hetmyer said and most of the players would agree, this a dream come true for the Delhi Capitals. The franchise owners have shown tremendous faith in the team management and the players and have taken some superb calls to build a team around an Indian core that has reaped huge rewards this season. Most of the players in the playing XI have shown that they belong and Delhi would be very happy that they have found a good combination in both the batting and the bowling departments. Most of their players are in good form and the guys have nothing to lose as making it to the finals in itself is a huge achievement. So as Iyer had said in the post-match presentation ceremony after the SRH game, they have to play without fear, without any hesitation, and as freely as possible. That is going to be their best bet. Rohit Sharma Needs to Lead From the Front In this entire tournament, the one player that has not hit the top gear right from the start is skipper Rohit Sharma. Just when he was coming into his own, an injury kept him away from the playing XI and broke his flow of runs. He made a comeback from his injury in the first game of the playoffs stage and laughed at his luck after he was trapped in front by Ravi Ashwin in the first ball. But everyone knows that Rohit is a big game player. Hence him coming back to form and leading his team to the first-ever title defence and record the fifth season in the IPL is really important. IPL 2020 Finals- MI vs DC: Match Details Match Number - 60 Date: 10 November 2020, at 7:30 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local, 2.00 PM GMT Venue: Dubai Broadcast: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report A fresh pitch is going to be used for the final in Dubai. The freshness could be used by the fast bowlers early on especially if Bumrah and Trent Boult are let loose in the game. The batsmen might find support from dew later in the second innings and if we are to believe the last couple of games on this ground, that could come in handy. However, it has rained in the past few days in Dubai, in that case, the chance of dew might be reduced as well. In this utterly confusing situation, winning the toss and chasing could be a way out if the captains are not very sure about the weather. Weather and Toss While there have been heavy showers in Dubai over the past few days, the sky is predicted to be clear for Tuesday. The chances for precipitation are 10% with a wind speed of 21km/h. The humidity has increased up to 59%, therefore, the chances of dew have decreased. Team News Mumbai Indians Mumbai played their best XI in the last game, however, Trent Boult got injured and therefore if there is a change in the squad, it would be a forced one and James Pattinson might come in place of the ace New Zealander. Expected XI Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah Delhi Capitals The Delhi team would have no change as far as the current team is concerned. All their priorities are set hence chances of expecting a change in a winning team would be zero. Expected XI Marcus Stoinis, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje Final- MI vs DC: Dream 11 team and Fantasy suggestions Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Ishan Kishan(wk), Suryakumar Yadav Hardik Pandya, Marcus Stoinis (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Jasprit Bumrah Captain: Marcus Stoinis Vice Captain: Shikhar Dhawan