The Ring of Fire welcomed MI and DC in their first doubles fight of the weekend. It’s been an odd fortnight for DC, as they’ve come down from the top of the table to vie for a spot in the knockout stages. In fact, from where they were competing for a place in the top 2, they had to go down to compete for a place in the top 4. However, thanks to a winning streak from the beginning of the tournament, DC was able to successfully reverse the tide. surpass their own record, if they win one of the remaining 2 matches. Otherwise, they need a lot of other results to continue, if they want to reach the knockout round. On the other hand, MI has made it through to the knockout stage and is looking to take a place in the top 2 with a win in this match.
Kieron Pollard won the pitch and chose to compete on the field in Dubai. Cricket is such a great level. A week back, Shikhar Dhawan was basking in the glory of centuries in a row at IPL. Life was a bed of roses for him and within just 7 days the tables had turned into a pivotal period. From scoring 2 consecutive centuries, now he has scored 2 consecutive goals to disappoint the home team. Today, he played hard against an excellent Boult player early in his round and lost his precious racquet in the process.
Just to clarify, there are absolutely no demons on the stand. It was DC’s irresponsible batting along with some of Bumrah’s stellar bowling performances that led to Delhi’s downfall. Shaw has reverted to his irresponsible batting style after a brief run in the league and he looks horrible without a shot.
The two cranks that we talked about a lot in this tournament are Bishnoi and Chakravarthy. The person who is often followed is Rahul Chahar. He quietly entered the field to toss the ball, beat great players in flight and picked up a racquet or two per game. In fact, he’s the main reason why MI doesn’t need to bring in Bumrah or Boult in the middle. Today, he took Iyer down by beating him in flight – a feat Rahul can truly be proud of.
After Iyer got fired, it was just Bumrah’s gig. It’s an exhibit of the highest quality bowling stitches from India’s top pacing athlete. Bumrah looked at his best damage today as he just seemed completely unplayable. His wrist position is perfect as he takes full advantage of the seam and makes it difficult for the players out there. Stoinis completed the motion of the seam and passed De Kock by one point. Pant, with his head down, never seemed to be able to play the seam ball and ended up getting stuck in front of the racket frame. Harshal Patel- who is a pretty decent guy in the country, was made to look like a stalker in front of Bumrah who eventually took over his cane. Bumrah’s phenomenal form will keep the Indian team in very good shape as they march down Under Under in less than a month’s time.
It’s been a Delhi procession to the dugout, as DC’s batting squad is facing a major fallout today. Rahul Chahar, Coulter Nile, Boult everyone was tit-for-tat when DC somehow made the score to triple digits.
As I said earlier in the article, that pitching is harmless to hitting the ball. It was just a terrible batting from DC and some horrible bowling from MI. The same was proven once, MI came out. The Dubai Stadium this afternoon did not help Rabada or Nortje. It is basically a pitch that is heated by the sun and aids in seam movement. The difficult-to-hit bowling genre has become a free game for hitters, because the length is just enough to hit.
Because the pitch does not produce bounce nor stickiness, Nortje proved to be less effective. Rabada, who is generally perfect with his stitching in red-ball cricket tried to make good use of his seam but threw the wrong line for both lefties. Since both of their overseas fast pitchers were taken to the cleaners, DC had no hope left.
Ishan Kishan once again showed his explosive power, as he ran to 72 out of 47 serves to single-handedly take the game out of Delhi. Some of the shots, cuts and scissors he has played with top quality international pitchers speak volumes about his abilities and it may just happen that he made the leap Rishabh Pant into the team. the Indian nation quite early. He has shown this season that his play has improved a lot and has become a lot more solid. Most importantly, he was recruited at the right time for his team, when Rohit Sharma was injured. Kishan’s presence at the top of the order ensured that MI didn’t miss out on Rohit, the pitcher of their last few games.
With the victory in this game, MI has secured a place in the top 2 and thereby has a great chance to win the title for the 5th time. On the other hand, DC has to regroup themselves and win against RCB, if they want to hold their luck.
