IPL 2020: Rishabh Pant ruled out for a week due to hamstring injury

IPL 2020 | MI vs DC: What Experts said as clinical Mumbai go past the ‘Delhi’ gate with ease

Supposed to be the best contest of the tournament so far, the matchup between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians turned out to be rather anti-climatic as the defending champions thumped the table-toppers by five wickets. The game was already finished by the 15th over of the second innings when Suryakumar Yadav added crucial runs with both Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan to take his team near the target. Chasing a modest target of 163, Mumbai were 130/3 after 15th over with just 33 needed from 30 balls. But the game didn’t quite end in easily as the lower order Mumbai batsmen almost made a mess of it before a Krunal Pandya four clinched it for the Rohit Sharma led side. Earlier choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Delhi couldn’t quite get to a total that they would have liked on the Abu Dhabi track. Hampered by injury to Rishabh Pant and therefore change being made in the successful playing 11 with last match hero Shimron Hetmyer being pulled out, Delhi could only score 162 in their allotted overs. Shikhar Dhawan was criticised for slow batting as he hit a 69 off 52 balls while Marcus Stoinis, the man in form for the Capitals got run out, giving Mumbai spinners a chance to block the flow of runs and they did it with Krunal leading the way. Captains' Viewpoints Speaking on the occasion of the post-match ceremony, winning captain Rohit Sharma said, “The kind of cricket we are playing gives us a lot of confidence. It's important to have momentum with us, and it was a perfect day for us, getting those crucial two points.” Pointing out the mistake of not being able to close in the game well, Rohit said, “Clinical with the bat, but not so much towards the end. We need one set batsman to finish off the game in general. “ Saying that he doesn’t want to ‘point fingers because chasing has been difficult in this tournament’, the 33-year-old asked the batsmen to buck up. Underscoring the importance of a long and quick partnership in the 20 over format, the Mumbaikar said, “We need to come out and play good cricket and keep a calm head while chasing. It's important to have partnerships and we did that today, which got us over the line.” On the other hand, it was only the second experience for Shreyas Iyer to be on the losing side in this year’s IPL. Reacting to the loss Iyer admitted that his team lagged behind in terms of runs. “I would say 10-15 short, 170-175 on the board would have looked completely different.” Iyer then further clarified as to what could have been the possible plan if Marcus Stoinis, the all-rounder had not got run out. “We really missed out when Stoinis got out, he was hitting the ball really well and also seeing the ball like a football, that was the main error that we did and something that we really need to work on,” he said. “Overall they outplayed us in all the departments. We need to work on our mindsets before the next game,” expected the captain. The 25-year-old praised spinners although expecting them to take more wickets. He also complained that the pitch became more batting-friendly in the second innings. “I thought the spinners were bowling well as the ball was coming onto the bat, it wasn't stopping as it was in the first innings. If we could have squeezed in two more wickets after the powerplay we would have been on top,” said Iyer. “There are still certain elements we have to work and we will use the break to work on that,” concluded Iyer after having confirmed that it would take at least one week for Rishabh Pant to come back to playing cricket. Expert Opinion For Experts, it was a field day as apart from cricket, Rafael Nadal had won his 20th grand slam, the joint-most by any male Tennis star. Sticking to cricket, most of the experts believed that Delhi Capitals were a few runs short in their innings. Giving his valuable point on this, veteran analyst Harsha Bhogle said that there were a lot of positives for Mumbai Indians from this game and foremost of them is the fact that there are different match-winners in every match. Cricketer turned commentator, Aakash Chopra raised yet another valid point saying that senior Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav deserves to play for India. Former India opener Gautam Gambhir found his new love in Suryakumar, who batted magnificently to score 53 off just 32 balls. Veteran cricket expert Boria Majumdar called the dismissal of Stoinis as the most crucial moment for the Delhi Capitals where they lost 10-15 runs because of his run-out, as admitted by the captain Shreyas Iyer as well. Senior Sports journalist Gaurav Kalra, known for his witty tweets, entertained fans once again with his humor as he took a cheeky dig at Shikhar Dhawan who played a lot slower than he usually does. For both the Mumbai Indians and Capitals, it was a game to learn a lot from. While the Shreyas Iyer led team would be up against Rajasthan Royals in the next encounter while Mumbai will face Kolkata Knight Riders.

IPL 2020 | SRH vs RR: 3 Reasons Why Rajasthan were able to pull another rabbit out of their hat

Rajasthan Royals were sitting on the fence, hanging by a thread to avoid an early exit from the race to the playoffs. They were almost outdone by David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad until a certain Rahul Tewatia combined with teenager Ryan Parag to give the Royals another thrilling victory. The Royals beat the Hyderabad unit by five wickets in Dubai to not only keep their chances of qualifying for the Playoffs alive but also to give themselves a confidence boost that they can win outside Sharjah and it’s very much possible. At 78/5 with all big guns back in the hut and 12 overs gone, it never looked like the Royals were going to win the match chasing 159. However, they did and the three main reasons for this dramatic win are everything but obvious. #1 Rahul Tewatia déjà vu It’s not often that a bowling all-rounder, not of the stature of the Russells and Stokes would win you two matches out of seven that he plays in, primarily with the bat and that two from situations unimaginable. But Rahul Tewatia the Haryana born all-rounder said was determined to get into the exceptional list and he did. Coming to bat at number seven with all big fishes already poached, Tewatia slowly and steadily built a partnership with Assamese teenage sensation Riyan Parag before launching an onslaught on the Sunrisers bowlers. The fact that he hit Rashid Khan, the most economical bowler of the tournament so far, for three consecutive fours in the 18th over of the chase, made him believe that getting 22 of the last two was very much possible and he did get that. Tewatia’s innings of 45 off 28 balls earned him the Man Of the Match award as well. #2 Unbelievable maturity shown by teenager Riyan Parag All of 18, Parag played such a brilliant supportive role to Tewatia that when he made the transition from a supportive role to that of an aggressor, there seemed that no extra effort was put in by him. His unbeaten 85 run stand with Tewatia led to the Rajasthan victory. He made 42 off 26 deliveries with five wickets down. But more important was the fact that he acted maturely, which is rare to find in a professional, let alone a teenager. His presence on the crease ensured that Tewatia wasn’t rattled thinking that he had gone for the chase alone. This is what was missing in the earlier games of the Royals and Parag with his phenomenal striking made sure that this time around the team was not left stranded in the middle, with nowhere to go. This win was needed for Steve Smith’s men and they finally have it courtesy of two uncapped Indians. The 'Bihu' at the end was just the icing on the cake that was required for the victory to taste sweeter for Rajasthan camp. #3 Rare off day for Rashid Khan Hyderabad’s bowling attack revolves around Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Since Bhuvneshwar is not available, Rashid was supposed to up the Ante’ and he did that too. However, when it was the turn of him to bowl against the Tewatia- Parag duo, he faltered badly conceding more than 14 runs in the 18th over when the batting team needed to go just 12 an over. Before his last over of the spell, Rashid had given away just 11 runs of the first three overs. It was this rare leaking of runs from his side that led to a more than a comfortable situation for the Rajasthan batsmen. Now that the Rajasthan Royals are back in the middle in the points table, they would like to co9ntiunue with their form when they face Delhi Capitals on 14th October. For Sunrisers, they have to find the answers within themselves as they would face another struggling team in Chennai Super Kings on 13th October.

IPL 2020 | MI vs DC: Suryakumar, de Kock fifties script Mumbai's homecoming to the top

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 162/4 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 69*, Shreyas Iyer 42; Krunal Pandya 2-26) lost to Mumbai Indians 166/5 in 19.4 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 53, Quinton de Kock 53; Kagiso Rabada 2-28) by 5 wickets. Mumbai Indians hinged on theatrical fifties from Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock to gun down an innocuous 163 against Delhi Capitals in the 27th game of the Indian Premier League. The defending champions usurped DC to the summit with ten points in seven games in what was a rather lopsided encounter at Abu Dhabi on Sunday, October 11. Delhi hold the aces despite Quinny blow De Kock channelized his silken belligerence after Rohit Sharma fell prey to Axar Patel's Midas touch, dragging a half-hearted slog to cow corner. Besides pinning Ravichandran Ashwin to the mat, he salivated at the very glimpse of anything marginally short of length from the pace cartel, uncorking his trademark pick-ups over fine leg to swag a 33-ball half-century. Resurging for a second burst, Ashwin gobbled a straightforward return catch to present Suryakumar Yadav a lease of life, albeit de Kock top-edging a sweep to deep backward square the next ball balanced the equation for good measure. DC had a nice little opportunity forthwith to grab the match by the collar, though Ajinkya Rahane inflicting a direct hit at the wrong end resulted in Ishan Kishan surviving to see the face of another delivery. Surya arrives to the party Yadav stayed the course alright, kneeling down on his haunches to smack Patel for consecutive fours before unravelling his version of the scoop-flick off Kagiso Rabada to earn fifty. It looked as if MI would rollick to a plain-sailing triumph at that stage, but DC had a few harsh words in store. Rabada shut the lid on Yadav's fun as a back-peddling Shreyas Iyer pouched his ugly swat. Hardik Pandya nicking behind for a silver duck off Marcus Stoinis lent its fair share of drama to the topsy-turvy state of affairs. It was a case of one shot too many for Kishan, who crammed a slash down sweeper cover's throat to walk back for a quickfire 28. Anrich Nortje held his nerve to yield a miserly penultimate over as the requirement lurched to 7 off the final. Thoughts of a potential nail-biter would have barely crossed the mind when Stoinis extended some down-leg garbage first up, as Krunal Pandya helped himself to a no-sweat boundary. The winning runs too blazed from his willow, nudging MI to the familiar territories of the apex. Debutant Rahane flatters to deceive Ajinkya Rahane finally got a piece of the action as Rishabh Pant missed out due to a niggle. Alex Carey had to naturally fill in the boots of the wicketkeeper, with Shimron Hetmyer warming the bench. And the need for Rahane's composure arose rather early as the absence of footwork saw Prithvi Shaw chipping Trent Boult's half-volley to cover. The veteran did show a glimpse of his quality in a couple of handsy square drives but Krunal Pandya's introduction quashed any notions of a fairytale debut. The skiddier trajectory worked wonders as Rahane failed to connect his across-the-line tuck, nabbed plumb for a run-a-ball 15. DC punch below their weight Enforcers Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer then hustled a vibrant 85-run partnership to keep MI at bay. Pinching ones, rotating the strike, sprinting like the wind, dispatching the odd loosener. There was a concerted tempo to their alliance even if the boundaries weren't exactly flowing. However, just when the batsmen were rolling up their sleeves to wreak havoc, left-arm Krunal sent Iyer packing courtesy a tender short-arm jab. Dhawan obtaining his fifty coincided with Marcus Stoinis running himself out in the quest of a non-existent double. The ramifications of the in-form finisher's premature exit can be gauged from the fact that DC condensed a skimp 35 runs in the last four, despite a well-set Dhawan carrying his bat through to march off unbeaten on 69. What's in store next? Silly mistakes jeopardized Delhi Capitals a great deal tonight, and they'd eye rectification in their next tussle against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday, October 14. Mumbai Indians, the newly crowned table-toppers, have four days to rest on their laurels before they engage into conflict with Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday, October 16.

IPL 2020 | DC vs MI: Hits and Flops as Rohit's Mumbai overpowers Delhi Capitals

The match between the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Capitals was the clash of table-toppers of the ongoing season and Rohit’s side proved its might on the night and proved to be too classy for the Delhi capitals. Delhi was not awful in its performance and was done in by the sheer pedigree of the Mumbai team. Here we dissect the best and worst performances of the night Hits Krunal Pandya Krunal has been chipping in with valuable contributions with the bat and key wickets in the middle overs for Mumbai in this season but on the night when the pair of Trent Boult and James Pattinson failed to pick too many wickets with the new ball, Krunal was into the wickets column very early in his spell. He trapped Ajinkya Rahane stuck on backfoot inside the crease to provide Mumbai a big breakthrough as Rahane was looking in ominous touch and had hit a couple of his signature drives through offside. He came back in the middle phase of the game and scalped out the big fish in the form of Delhi Capitals’ captain Shreyas Iyer who was looking well set to take the game away from Mumbai. Krunal has been a linchpin of the Mumbai side over the past few years and Rohit has used him intelligently as a horse for the course. Mumbai needed a calm head to get the job done while chasing after Raba got the better of Isha Kishan in the 18th over and once again Krunal put his hands up to steer the team away from any chance of hiccup. He remained not out till the end and fittingly hit the winning runs by pulling Marcus Stoinis over the infield. Quinton de Kock Quinton regained his lost touch a bit late in the season but there has been looking back since his crucial knock against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The target the Delhi had given for the Mumbai Indians to chase was not a stiff one but it needed a batsman to set the platform so that the side does not have to deal with what the CSK batsmen have been facing so far in the season. Rohit went cheaply in a rather uncharacteristic fashion but Quinton was composed and was unfazed about the quality of the Delhi’s pace bowling. Quinton looked in his explosive form and was particularly severe on anything short bowled to him and he let his intentions known to his fellow countrymen Anarchy Nortje, hitting him for two huge sixes off his rising deliveries. Although he got out immediately after scoring a fifty the foundation he had built was good enough for the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan to shut the door for any chance of an upset from the Delhi Capitals. Suryakumar Yadav Suryakumar has been known for his touch stroke playing and the commentator Ian Bishop who was calling the game compared his batting style to that of Sri Lankan great and the head coach of Mumbai Indians Mahela Jayawardena. Suryakumar Yadav has been piling on the runs and in the last few seasons, he has owned the stage of the IPL. The targets in excess of 160s have not been easy for teams to chase so far in this season but the ease with which he guided the team to ultimately win it easily was reminiscent of the kind of batsman he has developed into. He has all shots in his arsenal and made good use of all of that against the Delhi spinners. His batting style and tactic against R Aswin was one of the highlights of the batting innings from the Mumbai camp. Suryakumar is one of the widely-discussed cricket in the IPL and he is doing no harm to his chances to make it big and seal a place in the Indian T-20 squad with a performance like the one against the Delhi Capitals. Flops Prithvi Shaw Prithvi Shaw has shown good form in the IPL 2020 so far and the DC team management would have hoped for a similar return from the swashbuckling opener. The Capitals were without Rishabh Pant and hence a lot was riding on Prithvi Shaw as an in-form batsman of the side. However, the challenge was bigger than he had faced in the season so far and he had to attempt both aggressive strokes playing along with conserving his wicket. Sadly, for the Capitals, he could do nothing and the class of Boult with the new ball exposed the weakness in his technique once again. The replays and side by side comparison with the way of his dismissal and how Ajinkya Raahen played in a similar way explained the flaw in his technique where his head is falling over and subsequently his batting is losing proper access to the balls coming into him. Prithvi Shaw is young and promising but he would do well to realise that his journey as a great player will only begin when he starts to conquer quality bowlers. Hardik Pandya Hardik has not bowled in the season so far and is playing as a specialist batsman and hence the responsibility on his shoulder is bigger than it used to be. He has played a few good cameos in this season so far but has not been able to go big and score long innings like he was doing in the last season of the IPL. Hardik has developed a lot as a batsman and he will have to show his class a specialist batsman to stake claim a place in the side purely on his batting might, something he lacks in critics’ eyes. Hardik is too good a player with the bat in hand to be classified as a dasher and hence the match against the Delhi Capitals was a golden opportunity to stamp his maturity as a batsman. He got out playing a nothing shot on an innocuous Marcus Stoinis’ delivery and that gave a sniff to the Shreyas Iyer’s side. Thankfully for the team, Krunal and Pollard got them home but Hardik missed a chance to show his composure. Delhi Capitals were not abysmal with the bat or with ball but the sheer depth in the Mumbai indians camp weighed them down. The batsmen were choked by Boult to start with the new ball and they could not recover with batsmen faking to convert their good start. The bowling tried its best but again Mumbai’s batting might was too strong to be breached by the bowlers who were also not helped by fielders who were having a definitie off day in the field.