🏏IPL 2025 - Match 63 MI vs DC on 21st May 2025 at Mumbai 🏏

🏏IPL 2025 - Match 63 MI vs DC on 21st May 2025 at Mumbai from 7:30pm IST 🏏

The Indian Premier League 2025 continues with Mumbai Indians taking on Delhi Capitals in Match No. 63 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, May 21. Notably, the upcoming fixture decides the fate of the playoffs qualification, as both teams are in desperate search for a win to strengthen their case to make it to the cut.

Mumbai Indians currently sit fourth on the points table with 14 points and a positive net run-rate (NRR) of 1.156. A win in the upcoming game will seal their place in the playoffs, taking them to 16 points, and eliminating Delhi, who can then only reach 15. MI have turned things around after a poor start, and this will be their first game since the IPL resumed on May 17.

Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, are fifth with 13 points and an NRR of +0.260. Their recent form has been a point of concern, but a win over MI will push them to 15 points and keep them in contention. They must then beat the Punjab Kings to qualify with 17 points. Meanwhile, the side dented their chances even further after losing their previous game to the Gujarat Titans. But with this being a virtual knockout, they will look to put the past performances behind them and come out fresh for this tie.

Preview

Only God's eye-view could have captured this twist-laden race for the last spot of the last four of the season. With three teams - Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru - having already qualified, the denouement for the final playoffs berth will have some unforeseen and dramatic situations.

First up, it is Mumbai versus Delhi. There is an element of romanticism to a Mumbai-Delhi face-off and it will be very hard to imagine a more-exciting match-up for such a high-stakes game. The IPL may not have exhaustively and extensively chronicled this rivalry but the history between these two cities is compelling, long-standing and storied.

Secondly, the contest won't be limited to just on-field action - an external factor looms: rain. With an 85 percent chance of precipitation, there is uncertainty over whether the match will even take place, bringing the DLS system into the equation. Mumbai have already ended on the wrong side of the weather once (versus GT), when rain stopped minutes before the cutoff time ending their advantage on the DLS count.

Finally the scenario after this match is quite intriguing. Both play Punjab Kings in their final round fixtures and both matches are to be played in Jaipur. From a scheduling perspective, Mumbai may enjoy a slight advantage - they play the penultimate league game on May 26, two days after which the Delhi Capitals would have wrapped up their campaign.

That could be considered an advantage should one view it that way but the ideal scenario for the five-time champions is to defeat the Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede and end all mathematical possibilities. Such a result would place them in an unassailable position in the league standings, turning the remaining seven league matches of the league into dead rubbers.

"I think we were always in contention for playoffs after we had that run. For us it's good to start the tournament and play cricket, the guys have been waiting for this, training has been pretty good and just take one game at a time and see what we need to do. It's in our control, it's a great position to be in," Mahela Jayawardene said ahead of the match.

The must-win scenario for Delhi comes at the wrong time. With Mitchell Starc missing from the line-up they are lacking in bowling firepower, as evidenced in their 10-wicket capitulation to Gujarat Titans on Sunday night. Their batting has neither been explosive nor consistent, a fact seen in the gap between their top two scorers.

While their No 1 batter KL Rahul has 493 runs, their second best, Abhishek Porel, has managed almost 200 less (295). After a bright start to the season with four wins on the bounce, they have managed only two in the next eight. A promising season now teeters on the brink of despair.

Munaf Patel agreed that the team will miss the expertise of Starc. "It (Starc's absence) will matter because he is our main fast bowler who bowls at 145 kmph, swings the ball and that too at the Wankhede wicket where both swing and bounce is available. It matters 100 per cent, but when there is no option, you have to think of other alternatives, you cannot get stuck thinking 'oh he is not there now, what will happen?'. You have to move ahead with whatever you have and ensure they perform," the DC bowling coach said.

When: Wednesday, May 21, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

What to expect: With the rain threat looming, it is difficult to predict how the match will pan out. On paper, the home team start as favourites but their applecart can be upset by the rain and DLS calculations. The team winning the toss is likely to choose to field.

Head to head: MI have an edge over the visitors in their face-offs, having won 20 of the 36 games (lost the other 16) played between them. At the venue, MI are 7-3 ahead and since 2022, they have won three out of the four matches played between the teams.

The big picture: MI qualify if they win

Mumbai Indians (MI) find themselves in an unusual situation. They will be in action on the fifth day after IPL 2025 resumed. That is more than two weeks after their previous match - against Gujarat Titans (GT) on May 6. And as soon as they hit the field, they face almost a must-win situation.

If MI beat Delhi Capitals (DC) on Wednesday, they will enter the playoffs. If they lose, a lot will hinge on a couple of games: DC's match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) first and then MI's own match against PBKS. MI would not want to tempt fate further by leaving it too late, even though their net run-rate of 1.156 is easily the best of all the teams.

The first jailbreak for MI came against the same opponent earlier this season. They had lost four of their first five matches before landing in Delhi. Three run-outs in the last over didn't just help MI beat DC but also start a run of six successive wins. One that kept their hopes alive.

They again face DC at a crucial time in the season. And they are coming off a close defeat.

For DC to qualify, they ideally need two wins out of two. A loss on Wednesday will knock them out. And winning on Wednesday but losing their last game will leave them hoping MI also lose their last match. It's a tough ask for DC considering they have lost four of their last five completed matches and are now without Mitchell Starc.

Thanks for the tag Soni.

May the best team win.

Cheers..

Team Watch:

Mumbai Indians

Injuries/Unavailability: For now, all MI players are available and there is no information of an injury to anyone.

Tactics & Matchups: Both Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma, who have scored 510 and 300 runs respectively in the IPL so far, have the wood over most of the Capitals' bowlers striking against everyone barring Axar Patel above 110. The two batters strike below 100 against the left-arm spinner.

Probable XII: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and Karn Sharma.

Delhi Capitals

Injuries/Unavailability: No information of any injury to any player. The team of course misses Mitchell Starc, who has chosen not to return, post the resumption

Tactics & Matchups: KL Rahul has an average of 74.23 against MI and has scored 965 runs against them across 19 games, the highest average by a player against any opponent with more than 500 runs. Rahul also has a terrific record against Deepak Chahar, having never been dismissed by him in the IPL and has scored 158 runs striking at 159.59

Probable XII: Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul, Abishek Porel (wk), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mustafizur Rahman, Dushmantha Chameera

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Second leg of IPL is progressing well after the initial setback of rain interruption.

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In the spotlight: Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul

MI's bowling attack has looked quite different after the return of Jasprit Bumrah from injury. He has bowled across each phase - 11 overs each in the powerplay and the death and ten in the middle. In the first four games without Bumrah, MI's death-overs economy rate was 11.18, which has improved to 9.07 in the games since. While DC took him apart in the first fixture, it was just his second game upon return. They will now counter him at a venue where he averages 12.88 this season.

In the words of bowling coach Munaf Patel, KL Rahul "asked for" the opening spot in DC's last game and responded with an unbeaten century. He now comes to the Wankhede where he averages 63.40 in the IPL. And he will face MI against whom he averages 74.23 and strikes at 135.15 with six fifties and three hundreds. He also has a favourable match-up against Bumrah (average 73, strike rate 123.72, two dismissals), Deepak Chahar (strike rate 159.59 for no dismissals in 99 balls) and Trent Boult (average 49, strike rate 148.48 for two dismissals).

Pitch and conditions

Of the six games at the Wankhede this season, four have been won by teams chasing. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had to score a big total of 221 in order to successfully defend it. With chances of rain in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, teams will be inclined to chase once again.

Stats and trivia

Suryakumar Yadav has 25-plus scores in each of his last 12 innings, the longest streak in the IPL. Temba Bavuma holds the record for the longest such streak in men's T20 cricket - 13 innings.

Axar Patel has opened the bowling in three of the last four games he has bowled in. There is a case for him to do so against MI on Wednesday - with his positive match-up against Rohit Sharma: 69 balls, 63 runs, three dismissals.

Rohit needs to hit three sixes to become the first Indian to 300 sixes in the IPL. Only Chris Gayle (397) has more in the IPL.

DC average 19.83 for the opening wicket in IPL 2025, the lowest among all teams.