The final clash

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard and left-hander Shimron Hetmyer are on opposite sides, but they are driven by the same ambition – winning this year’s Indian Premier League Twenty20 title on Tuesday.

An exciting contest awaits fans, when defending champions Mumbai Indians take on first-time finalists Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Pollard, a long-standing member of Mumbai, and Hetmyer, a recent addition to Capitals, will each be looking to make their mark in the title match, which will be televised around the globe.

Pollard has scored 259 runs this season at a strike rate of 190.44, and though Hetmyer has not played too many games this season, he will be high on confidence following his 22-ball 42 not out in Qualifier 2.

The teams  finished in the top two positions after the conclusion of the league stage and Mumbai, led by India international Rohit Sharma, are heavy favourites, having won the title on four previous occasions.

Delhi, led by another India international Shreyas Iyer, are playing in their first final of world cricket’s richest domestic competition and will have to overcome bouts of nerves if they are to overcome Mumbai.

This will be the fourth time that these two sides are facing each other this season and Mumbai have won all the three previous matches.

Delhi, however, have nothing to lose and will be going all out to spoil Mumbai’s coronation.

With both sides packed with batting, the title looks like it will be decided by the two team’s champion fast bowlers.

Delhi’s Kagiso Rabada, the South Africa international, has taken 29 wickets in the competition, two more than Mumbai’s Jasprit Bumrah, the India international.

The battle for Purple Cap – symbol of bowling supremacy in the competition – is on the cards, but the two fast bowlers have made it clear winning the title takes precedence.

Though Mumbai’s bowling attack is settled, they will sweat a bit over the fitness of left-arm pacer Trent Boult.

The New Zealander had to leave the field after bowling only two overs in Qualifier 1 because of an injury. Once he is fit enough, though, Boult will enhance Mumbai’s fire power. Meanwhile,  Rabada will have his  South African countryman Anrich Nortje to form a lethal pace bowling attack. The Capitals have the best economy rate at the death, second-best economy rate in the powerplay, and the best overall economy rate and average of any bowling team in the tournament.

Sharma is confident Mumbai Indians will have “the fifth one in the bag” if they continue doing the little things right in the IPL 2020 final. Sharma, who is the only captain to have won four IPL titles in the 13-year-old tournament, also felt that Mumbai hold a “little bit” of a “psychological advantage” over Delhi Capitals after their three wins.

Even without Sharma saying it, Mumbai remain favourites to retain the title. They were the first to make the playoffs and finished with the most wins in the league phase. In Qualifier 1 they brushed aside the Capitals, amassing a huge target after being put in to bat and then shutting down the Capitals with the ball. Of the five previous times they have made the final, Mumbai lost to the Chennai Super Kings in 2010, but then won the title in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

“There will be a psychological advantage a little bit, yes,” Sharma said on Monday, answering questions from the media. “But, again, what we have seen with the IPL is every day is a fresh day, every day is a new pressure, and every game is a new game. So you can’t think too much about what has happened in the past; of course, you can take a lot of confidence from the past. You just can’t dwell on it. You just need to move forward and think about what you want to do in that particular game.”

The Capitals will also enter the final with fresh zest, having gone with a new tactical approach in their victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2, where they pushed Marcus Stoinis up the order and brought back Hetmyer.

Though the Mumbai Indians have been the most formidable side in IPL 2020, head coach Ricky Ponting believes the one team they wouldn’t have liked to face in the final are his Delhi Capitals.

“We’ve got enough firepower. I think if there’s a team Mumbai wouldn’t want to play, it would be us,” Ponting said on Monday, the eve of the final. “But it’s about us, about how we turn up and how we play. We’ve been a long way below our best in the games that we’ve played against Mumbai so far. As I said, it’s been our powerplay batting. It’s probably been our death bowling against them a couple of times when they got away from us. If we rectify those things and play somewhere near our best, then absolutely I’ve got no doubt at all that we can win. (CMC/Cricinfo)