A Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah show was on the cards as Mumbai completed a league double over Delhi, this time defeating them by nine wickets to pile further misery on Shreyas Iyer's squad while also getting their first victory at Dubai in the Indian T20 League.
After winning the toss, Mumbai captain Kieron Pollard decided to field; a decision that worked wonders as his pacers were able to restrict Delhi to a mere 110/9 in 20 overs - the fourth-lowest batting total in this year's edition. It took just 14 overs for Mumbai to reach the target, with Ishan Kishan scoring a quick-fire 72 off 47 balls.
We analyse the key talking points from the encounter:
Trent Boult the maestro of Powerplay overs
Neither Prithvi Shaw nor Shikhar Dhawan looked comfortable against Trent Boult, to say the least. It took a mere two balls for the New Zealand pacer to get the better of Dhawan in the first over. It was for the second consecutive time this season that Dhawan failed to open his account, and in the process, became the only batsman in competition’s history to score back-to-back centuries and ducks in the same Indian T20 League season.
As for Boult, Dhawan’s scalp was his fifth wicket in the first over this season and dismissing Shaw means he has now taken a whopping 12 wickets in the Powerplay overs; three more than his closest competitor Jofra Archer. The Kiwi international has bowled 31 overs in during the Powerplay this season, conceding just 209 runs at an economy of 6.74 and an average and strike rate of 17.41 and 15.5 respectively. Not to forget, three wickets today means the pacer has now taken his tally to 20 wickets this season, his best-ever return in the competition.
| Trent Boult in Powerplay overs in 2020 Indian T20 League | |||||||
| INNINGS | RUNS | BALLS | WICKETS | DOT BALLS | AVERAGE | ECONOMY RATE | STRIKE RATE |
| 13 | 209 | 186 | 12 | 105 | 17.41 | 6.74 | 15.5 |
Prithvi Shaw continues to wobble
Prithvi Shaw made an exhilarating start to the new Indian T20 League season, scoring 179 in the opening five games, but has since struggled to find form. The 20-year-old has, in fact, registered four single-digit scores in his last five outings (4, 0, 0, 7, 10), scoring a mere 21 runs during the tenure. On Saturday, against Mumbai, he hit Trent Boult for two boundaries to set-up some much-needed momentum, but a mistimed swipe with a horizontal bat overshadowed all the good work in no time. This was the 10th time 11 innings that he was dismissed by a fast bowler. He’s started to develop a trend here as he has duly struggled to squeeze out runs against them as well. This is what his record against pacers this season looks like:
- 139 runs
- 107 balls
- 10 dismissals
- 13.90 Ave
As both of Delhi’s openers fell within three overs, the batsmen that followed could only score 22 runs in the Powerplay overs at a rate of meagre 3.66, which is Delhi’s worst return in the first six overs this season, and the second-worst overall after Kolkata’s 17/4 against Bangalore.
Delhi losing rhythm in a crucial time
Delhi looked like a real threat earlier in the campaign as they registered five wins from their opening six encounters. However, since their 46-run win over Rajasthan this month, the team won just two of their last seven games. As they headed into today's game, a win would have but all guaranteed them a place in the playoffs. Contrary to what was expected, the team crumbled big time. Not only did their batsmen fail miserably, their bowling contingent looked completely out of sorts as well. Their best bowler, Kagiso Rabada conceded a whopping nine runs per over while Anrich Nortje went for over 10 runs per over. As far as their batting was concerned, captain Shreyas Iyer's 29-ball 25 was the best return from the team.
This slump in form has been a collective carnage, to say the least. Rabada, who picked 17 wickets in his opening seven games, has now wicketless in his last two consecutive games. Nortje, who was acutely economical earlier in the campaign, has conceded runs at will. Although he has been amongst wicket, lack of support from the other end means his returns are just fruitless. There's absolutely no margin for error for Delhi, as a defeat in their next game - against Bangalore - might see other teams pouncing on the opportunity.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter.com / Indian T20 League
