Plot:

We last won 5 of our first 6 games in 2011! We are now on our joint second-longest winning streak in the Indian Premier League. In our last five games, we have responded to whatever our opponents have thrown at us with venom, determination, resilience and confidence. Our boys are performing their respective roles magnificently, as stated by our skipper and many of our players themselves. Even when a couple of individuals have found it hard to perform, somebody else has covered up for them in each of our five victories. That is what a team has to be about – covering for one another and ensuring that the team stays unscathed as a whole.

Our five wins have all come in chases; the last one being simply breath-taking. When we thought our bowlers were battered around the park and conceded 198, our batsmen dismissed it completely out of our minds. We chased down 199 with 27 balls to spare, which classifies as a comfortable chase, historically in T20 cricket. After providing sound starts consistently, Jos Buttler nearly went the full distance, scoring 77 and in the process, taking the Kings XI bowlers to the cleaners.

Back home, we have Delhi Daredevils to contend with next! This game was supposed to be an away game at the Feroz Shah Kotla for us, but there was a swap of our home and away games with Delhi in the schedule. The Daredevils have had mixed fortunes this year. They are one of 3 teams to have successfully defended totals, twice in this season. And, when they won those two games, they scored over 200 against Rising Pune Supergiant and 188 against Kings XI Punjab. They won both of them by huge margins – 97 and 51 runs, respectively. If they are to bat first against us, they will be up against the best chasing side in the tournament, so far.

Like our team, Delhi have a very good bowling attack. They have raw pace, swing and spin with equal measure. Some experts have gone to the extent of touting theirs as the best bowling attack of the season. However, they travel to the Wankhede, where our bowlers have been really good, while visiting bowlers have been put to the sword by our in-form batsmen. The overall head-to-head between us and DD stands at a dead-lock of 9-9.

Stage:

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai:

We are back at our fortress! We won the toss in all the three games we have played here, this season. We chased on all three occasions and won two out of the three games without breaking much sweat. Our spinners have extracted some turn off this surface too. However, the pitch should stay true to its nature and have a lot of runs in it.

Acts:

Jasprit Bumrah vs Rishabh Pant:

This has to be the battle between one of the canniest Indian bowlers against one of the most dynamic Indian hitters in this tournament. Bumrah was a stand-out in our previous game when Amla and Maxwell were making merry, and Rohit will go to the quick in the death overs. Pant has enjoyed a lot of success in the death overs for DD this season and will look to go after our bowlers.

Chris Morris vs Nitish Rana:

In their last game, Morris was Delhi’s only wicket-taker, as he claimed all four of Sunrisers’ wickets. He will be up against a stylish and in-form Nitish Rana, who is among the top run-getters in this season. Rana tackled pace quite comfortably and looked at home against short balls too. He will look to go one up on Morris as well.

Amit Mishra vs Rohit Sharma:

Rohit Sharma got back to form in the game against Gujarat Lions and admitted that he was troubled by spinners earlier in the tournament. But, he has a different strategy against them now, and will look to curb Amit Mishra’s threat. Mishra loves bowling googlies and gets a lot of wickets with the weapon. Rohit Sharma’s record against the Daredevils is very pleasing – he has an average of 40.93 and a strike rate of 137.89 against them in the IPL.

Stats:

⦁    Rohit Sharma needs 77 runs to complete 4000 IPL runs.
⦁   Bhajji couldn’t get the one wicket he needed to get to 200 T20 wickets in our previous game. Perhaps, the Wankhede is what he was waiting for.
⦁    After 2 innings against DD, Krunal Pandya averages 61 and strikes at 225.92 against them.