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Hits & Flops as dominant Mumbai register their first ever title defense

In an utterly one-sided match, the Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals by five wickets with eight balls to spare in Dubai. Delhi could only win the toss in this game and even after winning the toss, made a series of poor choice on the field that completely took them out of the competition early on in the game.

Batting first, Delhi recovered from 22/3 to 118/4 in 15 overs, thanks to a brilliant 96-run stand between two young guns Rishabh Pant and skipper Shreyas Iyer. However, after the 17th over, Delhi could only score 22 runs off 18 balls, and that turned out to be one of the major factors in their loss in the first IPL final the franchise played in 13th years.

Mumbai, when they came to bat were also given a jolt as Stoinis picked up the wicket of Quinton de Kock for nought. But Mumbai being Mumbai refused to get bogged down by the early wicket, and with the help of skipper Rohit Sharma’s 68 (51) won the game quite comfortably. On this note, let’s look at Hits and Flops from the game as Mumbai Indians clinched their historic 5th title defeating the Delhi Capitals in Indian Premier League 2020.

Hits

#1 Trent Boult

Boult, like numerous times he has done this tournament, was right on the money from the first ball as he removed the all-important Marcus Stoinis to give Delhi Capitals a major jolt on their morale. But that was not it as the Kiwi came back in the second over to remove experienced Ajinkya Rahane as well and put the young franchise on the back-foot from the get-go.

With two wickets in the powerplay, Boult was the pick of the bowlers. However, bowling the 18th over, he brought DC's momentum down once again picking up the dangerous-looking Shimron Hetmyer and giving just six runs off the over to finish his spell at 3/30 from overs. The 31-year-old has been so impressive with the ball in the powerplay in the entire tournament that he was awarded the CRED Powerplayer of the Season award. Boult also received the honours of being the Man of the Match in a winning cause in a league’s finale.


#2 Rohit Sharma

Big games require big players to step up and what a moment did Rohit Sharma choose to finally find his touch in the tournament. In the finals, the Hitman scored a brilliant 68 off 51 balls with the help of five fours and four sixes before one Anrich Nortje bouncer climbed too quickly on to him and a brilliant catch by substitute fielder Lalit Yadav ended his innings.

But Rohit, by then, had done his work. Although he had gotten Suryakumar Yadav run out in a silly error, still he made sure that the team has reached a safe place from where anybody can take the game home. 


#3 Jayant Yadav

Playing only his second IPL game this season, Jayant Yadav repaid the faith of the team management. Yadav did justice to the cause of why he was chosen ahead of Rahul Chahar, by picking up the prized wicket of Shikhar Dhawan. After achieving his target, he kept on bowling the right line and length and gave away only 25 runs in his spell of four overs and that too in a final, making his selection even more special. 


Flops

#1 Shikhar Dhawan

With brilliant innings in the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Gabbar was expected to lead the team here as well. However, he found himself cramped up and uncomfortable against the pace duo of Boult and Bumrah and never managed to get going. He was bowled by Jayant Yadav after attempting to play what looked like a slog-sweep but managed to make a complete meal out of it.

Dhawan could add only 15 to his total 603 runs brought in from previous games and finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the IPL 2020, behind Kings XI Punjab’s KL Rahul.  


#2 Kagiso Rabada

Another one of the Delhi stars from the previous matches, the South African speedster failed to fulfil his role as a strike bowler as he was not able to pick even a single wicket in the Powerplay. Having been a purple cap holder, the team had hopes of early wickets from the ace South African, but he failed to deliver on the biggest stage.  

True, that the total to defend was rather modest, still the approach from Rabada didn’t look positive either. Rabada did pick one wicket at the fag end of the Mumbai innings and took his tally of wickets in this season to end up winning the Purple Cap, given to the highest wicket-taker of the league.   


Special Mention: Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan

Rishabh Pant for the first time in the entire tournament looked promising and free-flowing scoring a brilliant 56 off 38 balls with four fours and two sixes. However, he couldn’t just take his innings ahead and got on a crucial juncture in the fifteenth over, where he was needed the most to accelerate and get the team to a fighting total, but he failed to do so.


On the other hand, the rise of Ishan Kishan as a prominent face of wicket-keeper- batsmen in the Indian domestic cricket continued with his yet another brilliant innings. Ishan walked in after the fall of Surya’s wicket when the team’s total was 90 and 67 runs were required for the victory. He built a 47-run stand with Rohit Sharma. When Rohit Sharma got out with the team’ score at 137, 20 runs were still required and even as Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya got out trying to play the glory shot, Kishan hung in to see the team through. The Jharkhand born also remained the highest run-getter for Mumbai this season with 516 runs from 14 games. 


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What Experts said as Mumbai decimates Capitals in an one sided affair

There had never been a finale of the Indian Premier League being as one-sided as this one. Mumbai Indians, performing according to the weight that they carried this season right from the start of the tournament until the finals and chased down a total of 156 with much ease. Earlier after losing the toss and being forced to field first in Dubai, Mumbai took control of the game with Trent Boult and Jayant Yadav bowling brilliant line and length. Boult did his magic in this game too and removed in-form Stoinis in the first over and Rahane in his second. From 22/3 a partnership was indeed built by skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant but was broken as and when it needed to accelerate. As a result, the Capitals could only make 156/7 in 20 overs. Captains’ Viewpoint Reacting to the fifth title under his leadership that Mumbai won, Rohit Sharma said that he was really happy with how his team performed throughout the season. “We said at the start that we need the winning habit. We couldn't have asked for anything more, right on the money from ball 1 and we never looked back,” the captain said. Crediting the support staff for the work put in by them in building a World Class team. “I think a lot of credit goes to the people who worked behind the scenes - often they go unnoticed,” said Rohit. Talking about the preparation for the season, Rohit said that the team had started working long before the IPL started. “We wanted to make sure we filled the gaps in previous seasons. I had to find the balance to get the best out of them. I'm not someone who can run behind them with a stick, and it's important to instill confidence in the players,” he said. Praising the three all-rounders in the team, the 33-year-old said, “Krunal, Hardik, and Pollard have done their job for a long time, they know their roles.” He also was aware of how a young player like Rahul Chahar might feel on being left out of the all-important finale after having done so much for the team. “Rahul missed out today, and we need to make sure we put an arm around him and assure him that he didn't do anything wrong and that it was a tactical move,” Rohit said. Two uncapped players in Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have done exceedingly well and the skipper acknowledged this fact. “We made sure Ishan and Surya had confidence - just have to let Ishan loose, and Surya is a more mature player. The kind of form he was in, I should have sacrificed my wicket for Surya. But throughout the tournament he has played some incredible shots,” Rohit said. The Mumbaikar in Rohit also missed the fact that a Wankhede crowd wasn’t really there to support the team in a big game. “Unfortunately we couldn't have the fans at the stadium. We missed playing at the Wankhede and hopefully, we can get back there next year,” he said. Shreyas Iyer, the losing captain praised his coach Ponting for helping the team reach its first-ever IPL finale. “Ricky, the amount of freedom he gives us is outstanding. The way he motivates players is simply amazing. His team meetings and motivational speeches are quite incredible,” he said. Saying that the IPL always amazes people, Iyer resolved that he would make sure that the next trophy is in the hands of Delhi Capitals. “It's one of the toughest leagues to play. I'm overwhelmed to be part of it, and I'm really proud of my boys, the way they have played to reach the final, it's not easy,” he said. “Winning the IPL would have been better, but we will see to it that we lift the trophy next year,” the 25-year-old added. He also thanked the fans for their support throughout the season. “I would like to thank our fans, and we're thankful for all the support that has been showered on us throughout the season,” said Iyer. Expert Opinion The cricket experts praised how two uncapped players in Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan helped Mumbai win the title. At the same time, they also lauded Delhi’s fightback after losing three early wickets. Freddie Wilde, a cricket journalist lauded the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for organizing such a huge tournament without any glitch. Bharath Seervi, of the best statisticians in the business, pointed to a very strange but amazing stats where Mumbai has not been able to win its first game since last eight seasons. Aakash Chopra, a cricketer turned analyst of the sport, praised the uncapped duo of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav On the other hand, Boria Majumdar. ace cricket analyst praised Mumbai for nurturing players like Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, both of whom have been critical in Mumbai's journey to the final. Gaurav Kalra, a senior journalist asked people as to what would they be doing at 7.30 pm from tomorrow onwards as the IPL would now get better. Sambit Bal, another senior journalist cited the stats in which Mumbai has had four victories against Delhi Capitals this season and termed it as a sum up off Capitals' season so far.