59 matches have been and gone and just one remains in the Indian Premier League this season and that comes along on Tuesday when the Mumbai Indians meet the Delhi Capitals in the final for the first to be the IPL 2020 champions.
These two met in the first qualifier less than a week ago and the Indians cruised to victory but to be fair to the Capitals they bounced back when few expected them to and will line up in their first final, one where they meet the defending champions.
Mumbai Indians
It is beginning to look like the only thing that can deny the Mumbai Indians a successful defence of their title is complacency and there isn’t a lot of sign of that coming around. They have looked the dominant force for much of the season and here at Dubai they have been especially strong, with their batting completely dominating proceedings and their bowlers more than getting the job done off the back of that.
They match up well to their opponents here too which helps but the reason why they are so fancied for the title is that their batting just works. Their top order has rarely got into trouble but when it has men thought of more as sloggers have played good knocks to get them out of difficulty but when the platform has been laid those same players have boosted their total. When you add in that more often than not they have picked up early wickets with the ball, they are some team and very hard to beat.
Delhi Capitals
You really do have to give a lot of credit to the Delhi Capitals for the way they turned things around to win Qualifier 2 after being humped in the first match of the play-offs. They weren’t completely convincing but from where they had been it was a very good effort. They were brave enough to make a switch with Marcus Stoinis going up to the top of the order and that worked a treat. You sense they will need it to here too if they are going to win their first title.
The big concern for the Delhi Capitals in recent times has been their bowling and although they eventually got the job done against the Sunrisers, it has to be said that despite having Hyderabad going nowhere early on in their batting innings the Capitals bowlers almost let things slip but came good when it mattered. They are going to need their best bowling effort of the tournament if they are to win this final.
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Key Men
Ishan Kishan has been in great touch in the three previous matches between the two this season and has unbeaten half centuries in the last two. If he is in that form again he could well lead the champions to another title.
Marcus Stionis is sure to have a big role to play for the Delhi Capitals. One reason why Mumbai have been so hard to beat this season has been their ability to take early wickets so if the Australian can blunt that and put a score on the board he could go a long way to winning the title for Delhi.
Betting
For all that as a neutral I want the final to be competitive, I can’t see beyond another comfortable win for the Mumbai Indians. They have played the Delhi Capitals three times this season and beaten them by five wickets, nine wickets and 57 runs and that is no co-incidence. They just match up very well to the Capitals and happen to be better than them in all departments. Even if Mumbai have a bad day at the office you just know someone will stand up for them but if they click I don’t see how Delhi get close here. I’ll take Mumbai to win this comfortably.
At a bigger price I’ll have a slice of the 14/1 that Ishan Kishan is the man of the match. He has undefeated 50s in the last two matches between these two and is capable of some monster hits which often get noticed. He is perfectly suited to this Delhi attack because both their spinners will be turning it into his legs where he can get the slog sweep out. He also seems to enjoy the Delhi seamers and is in great form heading into this match. That 14/1 is just a little too big in a final which might well be won with the bat rather than the ball.
Tips
WON – Back Mumbai Indians (-1.5wickets/4.5runs) to beat Delhi Capitals for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
Back I.Kishan Man of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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