Race to finals - The Northern showdown

            Indian premier League has been a major stress buster for us in this bizarre year . We had many wonderful moments in this IPL. As the tournament is reaching it's business end, we decided to give a preview about today's exciting match, qualifier 1 where the table toppers Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals lock horns to take a short route to Final. 

Image credits: Sportskeeda

Mumbai Indians

            Defending champions Mumbai Indians displayed their sheer dominance in this IPL as well. So far as a team they performed really well and they are hoping to continue the same in playoffs also. They are coming from a big defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last League match. They will definitely try to bring back momentum with them. In Dubai, their track record is pretty much average when compared to other two venues. But they don't mind these things as they have great experience being in playoffs. Let see whether they stay in Dubai for the finals or they have to visit Abu Dhabi.

Players to watch out for

               Mumbai Indians reached playoffs not by individual brilliance. They performed well as a team which is a good sign. This year youngsters like Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Chahar performaned really well compared to senior players. Especially Surya Kumar Yadav displayed the variety in his batting. Surya Kumar Yadav is playing his 100th match for IPL so we can except a special knock from him. He single handedly won two matches for MI. After missing couple of matches due to injury at the start of the tournament, Ishan Kishan also performed really well and displayed his aggressive batting. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, he performed really well as an opener in few matches. Ishan Kishan is playing his 50th match in IPL. In this tournament, Kishan also improved his off side play as he was predominantly a leg side player. Rahul Chahar shadowed the absence of a senior spin bowler in MI by his wonderful performances. He took almost all the big fishes this year. It's exciting to see these lads' performance in today's match.

               Another important player at the top order is Quinton De Cock. Inspite of having a poor start to the tournament, he bounced back and performed consistently in the top order in the later half. He usually enjoy pace in the ball so he will definitely look to attack Rabada and Nortje. Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma started the tournament well but in later part his performance dipped and missed few matches due to hamstring injury. He returned to playoffs. He is a big match player. He will be keen to regain his form in this match.  

               Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya are the two six hitting machines that MI is having in their factory. They can turn around any worst situation. Let's see whether they light up some crackers tonight.

               MI is having a world class pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah. He is the current purple cap holder. He is not only taking wickets but also bowling economically well. He is Rohit's go to man in pressure situations.

Delhi Capitals

               Right from the auctions, DC have been considered one of the powerful teams and they proved it right in the first half of the tournament. They are the most balanced team after MI. They lost the winning streak in the later half by losing 4 consecutive matches but they won their last league match against RCB. They lost their two league matches against MI. They definitely look to turn around their fortunes against MI in this most exciting match.

Players to watch out for

             Shikhar Dhawan was not in good touch in the start of the tournament but he came to form at the right time. He has a weakness against left arm pacers so Boult will definitely test him tonight. Prithvi Shaw's case is quite opposite. Only one the two openers click and as an opening pair they are not consistent. If both played well at a time it will be a great for DC's batting.

             Shreyas Iyer, the skipper of DC is not having his best IPL as he scored only one good knock. He is very strong against spin but MI is packed with pacers. He will definitely target Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya. Rishabh Pant is also not in his usual best. He will definitely look to play a good knock in this match. 

             Marcus Stoinis is another great asset for DC. He brings great firepower at the lower order. If he get going, no one will stop him even Bumrah can't. 

             DC's bowling department has to protean pace guns Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. This pace due will definitely look to rattle Rohit Sharma at the beginning of the innings. Axar Patel is one of the underrated cricketers in IPL. He is silently delivering for DC. Ashwin's availablity for today's match is doubtful as he suffered an injury in the last match against RCB.

Match ups

• Rohit Sharma and Anrich Nortje

Possible upper hand: Anrich Nortje

• Shreyas Iyer and Rahul Chahar

Possible upper hand: Shreyas Iyer

• Shikhar Dhawan and Trent Boult

Possible upper hand: Trent Boult

• Prithvi Shaw and Jasprit Bumrah

Possible upper hand: Jasprit Bumrah.

• De Cock and Rabada

Possible upper hand: De Cock.

• Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya

Possible upper hand: Rishabh Pant

Pitch report

          Dubai pitch became slightly slower in the later half of the tournament but in the last league match KKR scored 191 there. So it's again behaving in favour of batsmen again. Batting first and putting a score above 180 will definitely be a great advantage inspite of the dew factor.

Possible playing 11:

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton De Cock (wk), Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.

Delhi Capitals

Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Daniel Sams.

Today's English word

Perspicacity

This means the ability to understand things quickly and make accurate judgements.

Sentence Usage

Henry is a known for his exceptional perspicacity.

Thank you.