Bumrah and Boult blow away Delhi as Mumbai march into IPL final

 Bumrah and Boult blow away Delhi as Mumbai march into IPL final

Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult blew away Delhi Capitals' top order as Mumbai Indians cruised into another Indian Premier League final with a 57-run victory on Thursday.

Four-time champions Mumbai finished top of the table and will take some stopping in the final next Tuesday on the evidence of this crushing win in Qualifier 1.

Suryakumar Yadav (51 from 38 balls) marked his 100th IPL match with a half-century, while Ishan Kishan (55 not out from 30) also raised his bat as the holders posted 200-5.

Quinton de Kock (40 off 25) and Hardik Pandya (37no from 14) were the other Mumbai batsmen who put on a show at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with Ravichandran Ashwin (3-29) the standout Capitals bowler.

The game was all-but over early in the run chase as Boult and Bumrah ran riot, the defending champions taking three wickets before Delhi had a run on the board.

Bumrah replaced Kagiso Rabada as the leading wicket-taker in this year's tournament with incredible figures of 4-14 and Boult would probably have claimed more than 2-9 if he bowled more than two overs.

Delhi never recovered from a lethal early burst from the pace duo, who have 49 wickets between them in the 2020 IPL, and their eventual 143-8 was much more than they looked destined for.

Marcus Stoinis (65 from 46) and Axar Patel (42 off 33) salvaged some pride, and Delhi must regroup before facing Sunrisers Hyderabad or Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday for the right to play Mumbai in the final.

KISHAN AND PANDYA CAP IT OFF

De Kock took 15 off the first over from Daniel Sams, but Rohit Sharma went for a golden duck when he was trapped leg before playing down the wrong line to an Ashwin delivery.

The holders were flying at 63-1 at the end of the powerplay, with Yadav in great touch, but De Kock fell 10 short of a half-century and they were 101-4 in the 13th over when Kieron Pollard became the excellent Ashwin's third victim.

Kishan and Pandya conjured up a devastating late onslaught, though, putting on 60 from only 23 balls, with Anrich Nortje suffering the most as he went for 50 off his four overs.

Pandya launched back-to-back sixes in the penultimate over from Rabada and struck five in total, while Kishan dispatched the last ball of the innings from Nortje over extra cover for six to reach his half-century and bring up the 200.

BOULT AND BUMRAH SPELL DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR DELHI

Delhi needed a blistering start to have a chance of chasing down a big target, but instead they became the first IPL team to be three down without scoring a run.

Boult and Bumrah were rested for the Indians' heavy loss to Sunrisers in their last game of the regular season and the refreshed pacemen were bang on the money on their return.

Left-arm quick Boult dismissed Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane in the first over before Bumrah bowled Shikhar Dhawan with an unplayable searing yorker.

Shreyas Iyer also fell to the brilliant Bumrah prior to Rishabh Pant being sent on his way by Krunal Pandya to leave Delhi reeling on 41-5, with Stoinis' entertaining knock always going to be in vain.

Warner and Saha crush Indians to earn play-off spot for Sunrisers

David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha's sensational unbeaten opening partnership steered Sunrisers Hyderabad into the Indian Premier League play-offs with a 10-wicket victory over table-topping Mumbai Indians.

Captain Warner (85 not out off 58) and Saha (58no off 45) put on 151 for the first wicket as Sunrisers successfully chased down a victory target of 150 in the final game of the regular season at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, moving them above Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore into third.

They consequently eliminated KKR and will now face RCB in an eliminator on Friday, while the Indians already knew they would be going up against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 1 on Thursday.

Rohit Sharma (4) was not called up by India for the upcoming tour of Australia but returned to the line-up for the Indians, though he and Quinton de Kock (25) were the victims as Sandeep Sharma (3-34) moved onto 53 wickets from the opening six overs in the IPL – the most by any bowler.

Suryakumar Yadav (36) and Ishan Kishan (33) put on 42 for the third wicket before the former fell to Shahbaz Nadeem (2-19), who dismissed Krunal Pandya in the same over.

Jason Holder (2-25) claimed his 100th Twenty20 wicket when he removed Nathan Coulter-Nile for one with Mumbai 116-7 in the 18th over.

He also accounted for Kieron Pollard after he smashed 41 off 25 balls to push the leaders to a more respectable total, though it was still their lowest when batting first this season.

It proved easy work for Warner and Saha, as their terrific stand got them over the line with 17 balls remaining and kept Sunrisers' campaign going.

POLLARD GOES PLUNDERING

Mumbai rested Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult but failed to make things easy for their bowlers after being put in.

Pollard did his best to make the workload a little less daunting with a late flurry, clearing the ropes four times – including three in succession off Thangarasu Natarajan in the penultimate over – as he moved past the 3,000 runs mark in the IPL.

SUNRISERS DON'T GO DOWN

Warner is the leading run-scorer in the IPL and it is easy to see why when he is in such dominating form.

He sent James Pattinson (0-29) to the ropes three times in succession in the fourth over and brought up his 48th half-century in the competition with his only six of a masterful knock.

A wonderful drive between cover and extra cover for his 10th four got the job done for Sunrisers.