Mumbai: The in-form Mumbai Indians will look to exploit home conditions when they take on Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Sitting pretty at the top with five wins in six matches, the home team seem superior to the visiting side on current form and paper and will be looking to notch a sixth consecutive win this season.
The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai have had a nagging concern about the non-performance of their top-order — before it too clicked in the last match against Punjab.
Mumbai’s middle-order batsmen, especially Nitish Rana, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya, have been in prime form.
The bowling department seems balanced as Mumbai have a bunch of experienced bowlers in their line-up.
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has been fantastic in the first six overs, while Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah have been consistent in the death overs. Mitchell McClenaghan has also provided breakthroughs at crucial moments.
On the other hand, Delhi, who are currently in fourth spot with two wins and three losses, lost their last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) despite a good performance.
Packed with young batsmen like Sam Billings, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Shreyas Iyer, the Zaheer Khan-led side’s strength lies in their array of talented seam-bowling all-rounders.
Bowlers like Chris Morris, Corey Anderson, Angelo Mathews and Pat Cummins provide depth and balance to the side. But the exciting team sometimes acutely feels the absence of a pivot around which the team can bat.
Delhi have their work cut out against Mumbai if they are to regain their winning momentum.
