🏏IPL 2025 - Match 29: DC vs MI, 13 April 2025 @ 7:30 PM IST🏏

🏏IPL 2025 - Match 29: DC vs MI at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on 13 April 2025 @ 7:30 PM IST🏏

Bruised MI face DC juggernaut at high-scoring Kotla

Against an unbeaten and formidable home side, MI will want to put up a win and get their campaign back on track

DC vs MI, a run-feast in Delhi?

Never mind the extreme ends of the table these teams inhabit right now, this is the kind of match that could threaten the record for the highest number of runs scored in an IPL match. Delhi Capitals (DC) are built to go big, and have been scoring at a trickle under ten an over. Delhi has comfortably been the quickest-scoring venue in the IPL since last year.

Mumbai Indians (MI) sit at the bottom of the table, but they are never a million miles from a big innings. Also their bottom is not like, say, Chennai Super Kings' bottom. Two of their four defeats have been close ones. A matter of two good hits. Their captain's game is on point, Jasprit Bumrah is back, their middle order is finding its muscle, and they could easily get on a roll.

The last time these two teams played, it was at the exact same ground, which found a way to rejuvenate its tired pitch square a year ago. Add to its small boundaries, and is it any surprise the match aggregate crossed 500? DC scored 257 riding on Jake Fraser-McGurk's 84 off 27 balls, but won by just ten runs. Another instance of MI falling short by two good hits. Against an unbeaten and formidable DC, MI need to somehow find those two hits.

[Tag and Logo credit to Wildesdreams]

Big question: Will the openers finally fire?

Both these sides' openers have been among the least productive this IPL. Their opening partnerships are in the bottom quarter. MI openers have put on the fewest runs together, and DC are the third-lowest. The thing is, when they get going they have the potential to be among the most dangerous. Fraser-McGurk and Ryan Rickelton are among the most explosive, Rohit Sharma and du Plessis among the most accomplished.

In the spotlight: Hardik Pandya vs KL Rahul

Right from the Koffee With Karan days, it might appear Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul have been tough to separate. Their career paths have been similar in that they are both irresistible and versatile when at their best, but there are things that keep them from being at their best often. Both have had to deal with injuries - Hardik more than Rahul - and both have faced psychological challenges, especially during the IPL. This year they both seem to be at their best. Face to face, though, Rahul has been winning, scoring 96 runs off 55 balls from Hardik, getting out only once.

Pitch and conditions

Delhi is the highest-scoring venue since last year. That shouldn't change at all unless the hosts tactically want it to be lower-scoring and can influence the groundsmen to do so. There was a dust storm in Delhi two days before the match, bringing down the temperatures a little, but don't expect any rain or much respite from the heat.

Delhi weather report

The temperature in Delhi in the evening of the DC vs MI game is expected to be around 32 degrees Celsius. Expect humidity around 19 percent and wind gusts around 1 Km/h. The weather forecast predicts clear skies for Sunday in New Delhi. It must be noted that there was a dust storm in the national capital just two days before the match. While that did bring down the temperatures in the city, there is not going to be any threat from rain on Sunday.

Pitch report for Arun Jaitley Stadium

The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital is expected to be heavy with runs. Since last year, Delhi has proved to be the highest-scoring venue in the IPL. It remains to be seen how the pitch will behave this time around.

Key stats

• MI lead the head-to-head between these two sides 19-16. At home, though, DC are 9-5 against MI.
• In the last match, Trent Boult took a first-over wicket for the 31st time in the IPL, four clear of Bhuvneshwar Kumar at No. 2 on that list. In all T20 cricket, Boult is fifth, behind Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Willey, Bhuvneshwar and Mohammad Amir.

Next three fixtures

DC will host Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday before traveling to Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Two of MI's next three matches are against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In between they will host Chennai Super Kings.

Head to Head: Mumbai lead 19-16 in their 35-game rivalry and it's been pretty neck to neck since 2022 as well with 3-2 in MI's favour. At the venue though, Delhi have won 7 of the 12 contests including their last meeting in 2024.

Head to Head - Last 5 Matches

DC won by 10 runs, 27-Apr-2024

MI won by 29 runs, 07-Apr-2024

MI won by 6 wickets (with 0 balls remaining), 12-Apr-2023

MI won by 5 wickets (with 5 balls remaining), 22-May-2022

DC won by 4 wickets (with 10 balls remaining), 27-Mar-2022

Batters to watch(Recent stats)

Tristan Stubbs, DC

10 M • 296 Runs • 74 Avg • 186.16 SR

Abishek Porel, DC

10 M • 253 Runs • 31.63 Avg • 157.14 SR

Suryakumar Yadav, MI

10 M • 378 Runs • 47.25 Avg • 156.84 SR

Tilak Varma, MI

9 M • 231 Runs • 33 Avg • 129.05 SR

Bowlers to watch(Recent stats)

Kuldeep Yadav, DC

10 M • 14 Wkts • 7.92 Econ • 16.71 SR

Mukesh Kumar, DC

9 M • 11 Wkts • 9.9 Econ • 15.81 SR

Hardik Pandya, MI

9 M • 17 Wkts • 9.03 Econ • 10.94 SR

Jasprit Bumrah, MI

5 M • 6 Wkts • 6.35 Econ • 19.83 SR

Before the IPL could, unseasonal rains graced Delhi bringing with them violent dust storms that interrupted Mumbai Indians' practice sessions two days in a row. After nearly a week off, the fashionably slow-starting Mumbai are now desperate for winds of change as they resume their faltering IPL 2025 campaign against table-toppers Delhi Capitals in Sunday's evening clash.

The Capitals arrive in Delhi as the only unbeaten team of the season, boasting four wins - two in their adopted home of Vizag, followed by away wins in Chennai and Bengaluru. After the nail-biting one-wicket finish in their season opener, Delhi's victories have only gotten increasingly emphatic in nature. At the heart of this has been a liberated KL Rahul. Rahul's first-10 balls strike-rate in IPL has seen a major upward hike for the first time in seven years - he's going at 180 with an improved boundary-percentage of 28 - that has helped DC cover-up for the early loss of wicket(s) in PowerPlays.

For MI, barring the 62-run stand against KKR, Ryan Rickelton has struggled for fluency, and Rohit Sharma's form dip has only deepened the concern. Rohit has crossed 20 just once in his last 11 IPL innings. In the DC camp, Jake Fraser-McGurk hasn't quite hit his stride either - post-IPL 2024, he's averaged 15.28 in T20s, with 13 single-digit scores and four ducks in 28 innings. While DC have managed to paper over that with Rahul's resurgence and a resilient lower order led by Ashutosh Sharma, MI have seen only sporadic flashes from their middle order - something Deepak Chahar alluded to ahead of the game.

Bowling hasn't offered Mumbai much respite either. Their PowerPlay average of 51.83 is the second-worst in IPL 2025, in stark contrast to DC's 27.62. The absence of Jasprit Bumrah early on has clearly hurt - MI have managed just six PowerPlay wickets across five games, while DC have eight in four. At the death, the contrast is even starker: MI are leaking runs at 11.51 per over, while DC boast the best economy at 8.51.

On pitches as unabashedly batting-friendly as Delhi's turned out in IPL 2024, the bowling units can perhaps be forgiven for their dwindling numbers. However, the spotlight and onus would be on the batters to give their team the decisive headstarts. Can Mumbai - with a solitary win in five matches so far - help themselves off the bottom-half while also showing the league a way to beat DC this season?

When: Sunday, April 13 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

What to expect: The two (dust)stormy evenings in the lead up have helped bring down temperatures in the city although the unseasonal changes aren't expected to last until the match day. The venue was the highest-scoring ground in IPL 2024 with an average first-innings score of 235 in the five games here last season. Expect little to change on that front.