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West Indies' Rovman Powell eager to take on Kiwis in front of crowd


West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell has expressed his excitement on the prospect of the chance to perform in front of crowds in the upcoming series against the Kiwis after the New Zealand government has allowed the entry of fans into stadiums after effectively eliminating the virus.

"It has been a while. I think it's the longest cricket has gone without playing in front of crowds. So it's good that New Zealand has dealt with their COVID situation the way they have so we will be able to play in front of crowds,” Powell said about the possible presence of cricket fans in the stadium during the upcoming series.

West Indies cricketers who are not part of the ongoing Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates are counting down days as they are spending their quarantine period in New Zealand. They are set to face the host New Zealand for a three-match T20 series and two-match Test series starting November 27. 

Windies have tested negative for coronavirus upon their arrival in the country and will be released from isolation after another round of negative tests. 


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Jasprit Bumrah not thinking of wickets; happy at executing role given by team

Having judged the Man of the Match in the qualifier 1 against the Delhi Capitals, Jasprit Bumrah has said that he is not at all worried about the outcome of a game and rather being focussed on executing the plans in the best way possible. Bumrah was sensational with the ball and uprooted the Delhi Capitals’ batting order right from the start to the end. "I am okay with not getting wickets and winning the tournament, I have been given a role so I just want to execute that role. I am always ready when the captain wants me to bowl. I don't focus on the end result. When I have done that it's always gone downhill,” Bumrah said in the post-match presentation ceremony after helping his side in earning a spot in the IPL final. Bumrah was assigned a somewhat different task by Rohit Sharma in the Qualifier as he was being held back in the past game to control the momentum of the game in the middle overs. However, ending an in-form Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit decided to team up Bumrah with Boult with the new ball and it worked wonders for the team as the Delhi’s top order was down to the drain even before opening the score. Bumrah showed his impeccable presence of mind by bowling a fast and swinging yorker to Shikhar Dhawan who seemed to be late on the ball as he must have been expecting a fuller ball in on the off stump line. The fact that the yorker came out well on the night and it dismissed Dhawan left Bumrah pleased with his efforts. "Opening yorker was really important. I decided I will do that early in the game and when it comes off it's always nice," Bumrah said of his searing yorker to Dhawan in the second over of the Capitals’ chase. The Qualifier game was nothing short of sensational for both Bumrah and the Mumbai Indians as the two bowlers achieved an outstanding feat of double-wicket maidens. Trent Boult bowled the first over of the inning and scalped out the big wickets of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane on consecutive balls followed by Bumrah’s efforts of a double-wicket maiden in the 16th over by dismissing Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams. It was the first time in the history of the IPL that two bowlers of the same team achieved double-wicket maidens in a game. It was a second double wicket-maiden for Bumrah for the season as the purple cap holder this year had already taken two wickets in an over without conceding any runs in a match against the Royals Challengers Bangalore.

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MI vs DC: Hits & Flops as Bumrah-Surya shine in thumping victory over Capitals

As Mumbai fielded their full strength team after the loss against the Sunrisers in their last league game, it was a surety that they would be more than just a challenge for the Capitals; well they turned out to be more than that. With the help of the destructive batting from Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan along with the semblance provided by Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai posted 200 on the board. Delhi with their strong batting was supposed to present some challenge in the chase, but unfortunately, it turned out to be yet another dead game as the Capitals never recovered from their early shock when they lost three of their top batters at the score of zero. In the end, they could manage to score only 143 in their 20 overs losing the match by a mammoth 57 runs in Dubai. For Mumbai, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult were the chief architects of Delhi’s destruction. On this note, let us look at the Hits and Flops from the game. Hits #1 Jasprit Bumrah Bumrah was phenomenal today, as he has been in the entire tournament, barring few initial games. Taking the ball, he dismissed the most in-form Delhi batter in Shikhar Dhawan with the very first delivery, a perfect Yorker to which Dhawan had no answer. But he didn’t stop there as he got the all-important wicket of skipper Shreyas Iyer against the run of play as Iyer had hit a beautiful cover drive on the previous delivery. A partnership had developed between Axar Patel and Marcus Stoinis for the Capitals. They had started to look confident and his biggest asset, the Trump card was called in by Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma. Just the way he did in the previous spell, Bumrah picked another wicket with the first ball of his spell, this time Stoinis was at the receiving end. In his four overs, Bumrah finished with the best figures of his career giving away just 14 runs and taking four wickets. Bumrah was also adjudged Man of the match for this effort of his. He also took over as the purple cap owner from Kagiso Rabada for the time being. #2 Hardik Pandya When he came at the crease, Mumbai was 140-5 with 23 balls remaining in the innings and Kieron Pollard already in the dressing room. To get to 200 from there was something that only Pandya could have done. The man hit every bowler possible. Right from Daniel Sams to Rabada and to Andre Nortje, nobody was spared by the Baroda born. Pandya scored 37 of just 14 balls with the help of five colossal sixes in the death overs. He also built a 60 run partnership with Ishan Kishan for the 6th wicket. # Suryakumar Yadav After the fall of skipper Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar joined Quinton de Kock in the middle. Instead of taking the pressure, Suyrya counter-attacked and de Kock was also going the dame, it was these two that got Mumbai out from the hole it might have forced itself in because it happens in the knockout games that an early blow brings the morale of the entire team down. Surya scored 51 of 38 balls and his innings included six fours and two sixes. Flops #1 Shikhar Dhawan In a pressure match, in a knockout game, a team expects that its best people in form should and would perform. However, Dhawan, the man in form for Delhi, was bowled on the very first ball he faced. Frankly speaking, it was a brilliant Yorker to be the fi8rst ball for a batter, but to play the shot that he did was also not the right approach to the Yorker. The golden duck was not something that the fans or the team management would be expected of him. Even Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane got out for and probably of easier deliveries. But they are not on the list because not much was expected of them. #2 Kagiso Rabada The same is the case with Rabada. The man who has been picking up wickets throughout the tournament for his team has suddenly gone silent at the moment that matters the most. In this game too, he went for 42 runs but wasn’t able to pick even a single wicket. He didn’t even look threatening and that is a worrying sign. In fact, in the last five games, he has only been able to pick four wickets with an average of more than 46. Special Mention: Trent Boult and Ishan Kishan Both Trent Boult and Ishan Kishan played major roles in making sure that their team gets over the line. While Kishan has been phenomenal in the entire tournament, he showed his vigor in this game as well making 50 off just 30 balls with four fours and three sixes. The fact that he batted throughout the inning sfro0m the time he joined Surya in the middle and played the anchor’s role was even more pleasing for the Mumbai fans and the team management. Boult on the other hand gave Mumbai the impetus that it required by picking two early wickets, in fact, two very important wickets in the first over itself. He was outstanding with the new ball as hardly any of the batsmen were able to pick him. The Kiwi got injured and wasn’t able to bowl after the first two overs which was unfortunate. With this win, Mumbai has now moved to the finals while Delhi would have to win their next game against the winner of the eliminator to meet Mumbai again in the finals.

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MI vs DC: What Experts said as Mumbai romps past Delhi to reach finals

Delhi Capitals were no match to the class of Mumbai Indians and certainly not to the crazy yorkers of Jasprit Bumrah and deadly swing of Trent Boult as they lost the first Qualifier of the Indian Premier League 2020 by 57 runs. What was supposed to be an intense Qualifier, ended up being just another one-sided affair. The Capitals were basically humiliated as they could make only 143 chasing 201 in Dubai. They never looked in the game right from the beginning when they lost three wickets for no runs. From there onwards it was all about shaping up the chase. Marcus Stoinis and to a certain extent Axar Patel tried doing that, but it never looked like happening. Captains’ Viewpoints Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians captains was polar opposite from the last match’s post-match presentation ceremony. From playing the worst match of the tournament to the best match, he called it quite an incredible two-match journey. “I guess this is the best performance. The way de Kock and SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) took the momentum after I got out early was good to see,” Rohit said. Revealing that Mumbai Indians never have a predefined target and they change it according to the situation, Rohit said, “We never had a target in mind. We are a different team and we play differently. We just wanted to have a good powerplay and then take it from there. We knew we have the power to accelerate at the end.” Rohit further said that the versatility of the team helps him close in on matches, where they're not even chances of getting close. He also went on to praise Jharkhand born Ishan Kishan for the kind of form he has been in. “Ishan has been in great form, so we just wanted him to be really positive after the second time-out. We told that to Krunal as well, just bat positively and put the bowlers under pressure. With such a versatile squad, we can change the batting and bowling order,” said the 33-year-old. Boult has got injured mid-game and updating on him, Rohit said, “I’ve not seen him (Boult). But he seems okay. I don't think it's a big problem. Three-day rest and he should be back on the park.” The Mumbai-born lavished praises on his fast bowlers saying, “Bumrah and Boult have been in solid form. They play for different teams so they have different plans. We as a team have different plans and it's great to see them execute those.” Shreyas Iyer, the Delhi Capitals captain, standing on the losing side once again, for the fifth time in the last six matches said that he doesn’t want to talk negatively about the team as they have another chance of making it to the finals. “I don't want to speak negatively about the team, but going forward it's important to come with a strong mindset. It's never too late, and we'll see to it that we come back strongly,” Iyer said. Repenting on the fact that they did not capitalise when they had Mumbai down to four wickets at just 102, Iyer said, “I think we were on top when we got two quick wickets, and they were 102-4. We could have capitalized more at that time, and gotten two more wickets - maybe we could've chased around 170, but its part and parcel of the game. Every night can't be yours.” Talking about the team spirit shown by the Capitals throughout the tournament especially after living in the bubble for so long, the 25-year-old said that it was not easy to be in the bubble and follow the same routine every day. “We keep talking about the opportunities that we get and it's important to have a good mindset, but the practice we have done over the last few days, I'm really happy with the boys and their preparations.” Lauding Ravichandran Ashwin for his amazing performance in which he picked up three wickets for just 29 runs in his four overs, the Mumbai born said, “Ravi Ashwin was a positive for us tonight - he plays around with the batsmen's head a lot, really good to have him in the team, and he's quite an asset for us, especially me as a captain.” “All their batsmen are in great touch and Hardik/Pollard down the order are incredible. You can't control the situation when all the batsmen are in good touch, but we'll look to do better in the next game,” Iyer concluded. Expert Opinion Experts were impressed by the clinical showing of the Mumbai team to reach the finals and lavished praises on Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav. Veteran cricket Analyst Ayaz Memon was super impressed by Jasprit Bumarah as he called him the Incredible Jas or 'Jassi Jaisa Koi nhi' in Hindi. Senior cricket analyst Boria Majumdar came up with a totally different analogy to the game saying that he expected the game to be as intense as the US elections right now, but it ended up being a local municipality one. Broadcast Journalist Vimal Kumar talked about how in this year’s IPL, Mumbai wouldn’t be facing Chennai for the first time in six years. Sports journalist Gaurav Kalra lauded Jasprit Bumrah, saying that he was not only a great bowler but a great human being too, after the way he spoke in the post-match presentation. Cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra talked about how Delhi Capitals have not been able to compete against Mumbai Indians in the three matches that they have played this season. Mumbai look like the team to beat in this year's IPL, who will be able to do it is guess that might just end up with the answer 'Nobody'. For the time being, the Capitals would like to regroup before facing the winner between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier on 8th November.