MI vs DC Highlights, IPL 2021: Bowlers, Iyer-Ashwin stand power Delhi to 4-wicket win against Mumbai in Sharjah

"I was in two minds about batting and bowling. Teams have lost batting first and chasing, so it doesn't matter, we have to play good cricket and put runs on the board. Our bowling is amazing and has restricted oppositions so we just have to bat well and get a par score. We know where we stand on the table but we have to focus on what we have in hand, and on the particular occasion. We have a good squad and have to perform collectively. Jayant Yadav comes into the team in place of Rahul Chahar."

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje

We're going to bowl first. When we played the last time, it felt like a better option to chase here. DC will take one match at a time, and even though we qualified, we will take one at a time. Lalit Yadav is out and Prithvi comes in.

Delhi Capitals win toss, opt to bowl

“(What's important for the team today?) To bounce back from our last defeat against KKR. Coming up against a good Mumbai side and we are starting to get towards the business end of the tournament, so hopefully keep building and ensure that we are playing our best cricket in the finals. We have seen a lot of low-scoring games here, the wicket's pretty tired, it's pretty difficult to hit boundaries. Just being smart, adapting to whatever the conditions we are faced with today and doing that really quickly. It was certainly a different wicket to what we played on last year. Couple of games I played here were pretty high-scoring games - in the 200s. It's very different, it's just about adapting to the surface you play on each and every game and playing to the best of your ability and I think we can go a little bit better than we did the other day. (Role?) I don't know, I am not sure if I am playing yet or where I am batting today. I think Prithvi is back so we'll wait and see. Hopefully we can have a good day.”

"This is almost at the end of the square, so there is one square boundary that's really short, so the batsmen will have an eye on that. The highest total batting first here in this leg is close to ~156, which isn't as high as last year. Mumbai are playing their first game here. Their batting tempo is what Mumbai will be looking for, because there's no pace on this wicket and Mumbai haven't been in the best of batting form. The extra slowness of this pitch will get player getting out of shape to hit the ball, and one square boundary is really large. The bowlers have to make their adjustment on this pitch, in terms of length, but understanding what a good score is on this pitch will be even more of a challenge"

-Reckon Ian Bishop and Matthew Hayden

Will we see Suryakumar Yadav in action today or will he be rested? Will Rohit bench MI's “Mr. Dependable”?

Our Delhi Capitals Predicted XI vs MI: Steve Smith, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje

Our MI's Predicted XI vs DC: Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah

Best Bowling Figures:

4/13 By Lakshmipathy Balaji (Punjab Kings) Against Sunrisers

Hyderabad In 2014.

Highest Partnership:

183 By KL Rahul And Mayank Agarwal (Punjab Kings) For 1st

Wicket Against Rajasthan Royals In 2020.

Win Rate Batting First:

10% (1 Won; 9 Lost)

Highest Team Total:

228/4 By Delhi Capitals Against Kolkata Knight Riders In

2020.

Lowest Team Total:

121/10 By Sunrisers Hyderabad Against Punjab Kings In

2014.

Highest Individual Score:

106 By Mayank Agarwal (Punjab Kings) Against Rajasthan

Royals In 2020.

Steven Smith, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Sam Billings, Marcus Stoinis, Lukman Meriwala, Tom Curran, Ben Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Prithvi Shaw, Kulwant Khejroliya, Ripal Patel

Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Piyush Chawla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aditya Tare, Adam Milne, Chris Lynn, Jayant Yadav, Roosh Kalaria, James Neesham, Ishan Kishan, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh

Pant heads into this game on the back of good form. Will he go berserk today?

Can we expect a big score from the MI skipper today?

vs KKR: Lost by 3 wickets

vs RR: Won by 33 runs

vs SRH: Won by 8 wickets

vs PBKS: Won by 7 wickets

vs KKR: Won by 7 wickets

vs PBKS: Won by 6 wickets

vs RCB: Lost by 54 runs

vs KKR: Lost by 7 wickets

vs CSK: Lost by 20 runs

vs CSK: Won by 4 wickets

Highest Total Chased: 195 On Apr 14, 2018

Lowest Total Defended: 164 On Apr 23, 2016

Highest Total Chased: 163 On Oct 11, 2020

Lowest Total Defended: 142 On Apr 22, 2017

The last time these heavyweights met, the Delhi franchise romped home to a six-wicket win. Opting to bat, MI could only manage 137/9 in their 20 overs on the back of Rohit's 44. Amit Mishra was the standout bowler for DC in that game, picking 4/24 in 4 overs. In response, DC chased down the target in 19.1 overs, courtesy of Shikhar Dhawan (45) and Steve Smith (33).

MI vs DC means two of the cleanest hitters of a cricket ball locks horns. MI skipper Rohit Sharma and DC captain Rishabh Pant are known for their attacking instincts are India's two best batsmen in the shortest format currently. So far in IPL 2021, Sharma has scored 334 runs in 10 matches, while Pant has scored 311 runs in 11 matches. Which captain will score more today? Well, only time will tell.

While the Delhii Capitals are currently placed in the second position of the standings, Mumbai Indians are in the bottom half of the table

MI- 6th position (P-11 | W-5 | L-6 | Points-10)

DC- 2nd position (P-11 | W-8 | L-3 | Points-16)

IPL 2021 finalists Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have squared off against each other 29 times. MI lead the overall head-to-head battle with 16 wins as opposed to DC's 13.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of match 46 of IPL 2021 between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) being played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE. KKR's loss to PBKS on Friday night meant that the Rishabh Pant-led DC became the second team to qualify for the IPL 14 playoffs. The onus is now Rohit Sharm's MI to bag 2 very important points today and strengthen their bid for a top-4 finish. But as we have seen in the past, it is no mean task to take on a rampant Delhi side. Irrespective of the result, one thing is assured; that is top-notch entertainment and top-class cricket for all my lovely viewers. Som sit back, relax and enjoy the action!