Good evening and welcome to Sportstar 's live blog of this evening's Indian Premier League clash between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals being played at the Wankhede Stadium.
◙ A fine innings from Yuvraj comes to an end as Tewatia pouches his fourth catch of the night. It is all but over for Mumbai! FOW 170/8, 18.1 overs.
◙ FIFTY FOR YUVRAJ SINGH! What a debut this has been for the left-hander. And what a way to bring it up. Beats short third man to the fence to score a boundary. But can he help stage the big twist in the tale?
◙ At the end of 17 overs, Mumbai Indians is at 159/7 and requires another 55 runs to win this contest with three wickets and 18 balls remaining. Seems a bit far-fetched but with Yuvraj at the wheel, well, you never know!
◙ Mumbai Indians reviews Ben Cutting's dismissal and the snicko confirms the nick. Out it is! Rabada is the man. FOW 153/7, 16.2 overs
◙ THE VINTAGE YUVRAJ SINGH SIX! Yuvraj Singh's cross-batted slap sails over the fence. Shouts of "Yuvi! Yuvi!" are echoing across the Wankhede stands.
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Krunal Pandya's cameo comes to an end and things seems too difficult for Mumbai hereon. Tewatia takes yet another catch at deep midwicket. FOW 134/6, 14.6 overs
◙ A soft dismissal follows Pollard's wicket! Hardik Pandya strokes it down the track, straight to the bowler- Axar. FOW 95/5, 11.2 overs
◙ And there is the much needed breakthrough coming from Keemo Paul! Big man Pollard has to go, victim to the knuckle ball. Confused over whether to go for a big shot, chips all the way to sweeper cover. Tewatia takes a comfortable catch. FOW 95/4, 10.5 overs
◙ A six and a four from Yuvraj to cap the last over as he moves to 23 off 14 balls. After ten overs, MI is at 89/3
◙ Shikhar Dhawan messes up with a misfield letting the ball past him. Not even a single there, Yuvraj gets a boundary instead with a fine sweep.
◙ Rahul Tewatia to Pollard and it has been smoked straight out of the park for a maximum. Mumbai Indians moves to 61/3 after eight overs.
◙ Suryakumar Yadav goes cheaply, contributing just two runs to the team's tally. Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer, who was at mid-off finds Suryakumar well short of the crease with a direct hit. FOW 37/2, 5.1 overs
◙ CAUGHT!Ishant Sharma unleashes the knuckle ball at Rohit Sharma who gets the top edge and finds Tewatia at deep square leg. FOW 33/1, 3.3 overs.
◙ FOUR. SIX. FOUR. Quinton de Kock shows no mercy as he whacks Boult to every corner. 17 runs comes from that over. MI 28/0 after three overs
◙ Impressive! Boult angles one moving away from Rohit who tries a drive, but it just misses his outside edge.
◙ The second innings is all set to begin and Trent Boult has the new ball. Rohit SHarma and Quinton de Kock to start proceedings.
Delhi Capitals has put up a mammoth 213/6 on the board thanks to a cracker of an innings from Pant.
Delhi has managed to smack 99 in its last six overs, and Rishabh Pant has amassed 78 off 27 balls.
◙ Jasprit Bumrah walks off the pitch, clearly in some sort of discomfort. He has injured his left shoulder. The team physio, Nitin Patel, can be seen having a chat with the pace spearhead as he trudges off the field.
#StatAttack: Mumbai Indians has never chased a total in excess of 200 in the Indian Premier League.
◙ Guys, 200 is up! Pant does what seemed impossible at one moment. In the last 3.2 overs, Delhi has scored 55 runs, losing just two wickets.
◙ 'Panta'stic as they say! "Out of Sight" says the giant screen as the ball disappeared deep into the stands. Merciless!
◙ And the fifty comes up for Rishabh Pant off 18 balls! Works wide of deep-midwicket to score one of the classiest boundaries of the day.
◙ Another one bites the dust just three balls later! Bumrah gets his man as Axar Patel goes for an upper cut and finds the third man Salam who pouches it quite easily in the end. FOW 165/6, 17.2 overs.
◙ WICKET! Keemo Paul, who was trying to give himself some room doesn't get much wood on to that shot. An edge sees the ball go high up in the air, ending up as a keeper's catch. FOW: 157/5, 16.5 overs
◙ Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant has moved on to 36 off just 13 deliveries.
◙ Hardik Pandya's celebrations meanwhile were shortlived as he wouldn't have imagined this treatment an over later. 18 runs off that over as Pant dispatched Pandya to all corners of the park.
◙ Safe hands!Shikhar Dhawan departs as well, making 43 off 36 deliveries. The younger Pandya has the big fish in the net as Dhawan looks to go for a maximum with a pull shot, but it goes straight to Suryakumar Yadav at deep mid-wicket. FOW: 131/4, 15.1 overs.
◙ Brilliant! Just two runs come from Hardik Pandya's over. After 14 overs, DC is at 114/3. What are your predictions? 170? 180?
◙ Meanwhile, Colin Ingram looking to reach his half-century in style, commits a serious error and hands his wicket to Cutting. A slower delivery outside off sees Ingram deciding to go big and Hardik Pandya, who was at deep mid-wicket, doesn't miss those. FOW 112/3, 12.6 overs.
◙ Well two more boundaries in that over and the Wankhede crowd is all about Ingram now! The South African is in some fabulous touch tonight.
◙ Krunal Pandya starts off with a delivery wide outside off against Ingram and was saved by a whisker from it to be labelled a wide. The very next ball, he is punished by Ingram as he fires it straight down the ground.
◙ After eight overs, the scoreboard shows 62/2 with Dhawan and Ingram trying to steady the Delhi ship.
◙ Weird confusion on the pitch! Dhawan should have been on strike but it is Ingram who takes the strike initially. The umpire communicates the mistake to Dhawan and Rohit Sharma sorts it all out by sending his Indian opening partner to the other end.
◙ "Boom! Boom! Bumrah!" chants greet the ODI number one as he walks in to bowl. And he lives up to the expectations. Leaks just three from his over. After five overs, things look a bit scratchy for the Delhi Capitals which is at 36/2.
◙ ShreyasIyer, who was looking to be in fine touch has to take the long walk now as the big man steps up! McClenaghan gets his second man as Pollard takes a wonderful catch at extra cover diving to his right. FOW 33/2, 3.4 overs.
◙ FREE HIT! That's the second for the day already and it is Rasikh Salam who has overstepped yet again. Skipper Rohit Sharma has a chat with him.
◙ OUT!Prithvi Shaw has to walk as McClenaghan lures Prithvi to drive on the up. The ball angles away from him and Shaw hands a slight edge to the keeper. FOW 10/1, 1.3 overs.
◙ A cracker! The explosive Prithvi Shaw straightway takes on McClenaghan and dispatches him for a boundary towards mid-on in the very second delivery he faces.
◙ Ooh, uncomfortably close! Shikhar Dhawan breathes as the ball just zips past his outside edge.
◙ The young Rasikh Dar, from Jammu and Kashmir, starts things off with the new ball. There is a hint of swing evident at the Wankhede.
◙ Yuvraj Singh and Quinton De Kock will be making their debut for the Mumbai Indians today. Guyanese star all-rounder Keemo Paul on the other hand is all set to shine for Delhi. Would be interesting to see how Dhawan starts this season with an all new side.
◙ Meanwhile, a wonderful run chase concludes at the Eden Gardens, with KKR winning a nail-biting thriller riding on a Russell blitz by six wickets.
◙ Time for Sunday's second big clash! Mumbai Indians wins the toss and elects to field first against the Delhi Capitals.
◙ Toss time at Wankhede!
◙ It's going to be the first game for the Delhi franchise in its new avatar. It's got a new name, a new jersey, and a new anthem, too. Below is the anthem, released today, if you've missed it. The big question is - will its fortunes change, too?
◙ Nearly eight years after helping the Indian team clinch the World Cup title at the Wankhede Stadium, Yuvraj Singh is set to play here once again, this time for Mumbai Indians. Here's what he said about playing for his new team.
◙ As we await the start of the contest at the Wankhede, here's a question for the fans of the Mumbai Indians: Who was the captain of the team in IPL 2012? For more such questions, here's the first set of the IPL quiz .
Here's our reporter Shayan Acharya's preview:
Newly monikered Delhi Capitals eyes winning start in Mumbai Indians’ den
For the next month and a half, Indian Premier League (IPL) may be the buzzword, but all the preparations will be done keeping the ICC World Cup in mind.
The players, too, will be focusing on the larger picture, trying to address the weak links before boarding the flight to England.
That’s one of the reasons why Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has decided to open the innings for the franchise throughout the tournament. “The (World Cup) is one of the factors but also keeping in mind that this is where I bat and this is my position when I play for India also,” Sharma said.
Team analysis: Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals
The process will begin when the side takes on Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. The focus will also be on Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. The two are certainly India’s best bets in the World Cup and IPL will be crucial for their preparations.
Pandya has had two breakdowns in the last six months, and now that he is back in Mumbai Indians’ scheme of things, the franchise needs to be careful about his fitness and form.
The side also has concerns in the pace department after Sri Lanka ace Lasith Malinga and New Zealand’s Adam Milne made themselves unavailable for the initial stage of IPL. In such a scenario, it needs to be seen how the franchise manages Bumrah’s workload.
READ: Malinga to miss six matches for Mumbai Indians
That apart, Mumbai looks settled ahead of the opener.
The three-time champion side has added the seasoned Yuvraj Singh to its squad, who could give the side stability in the middle-order. The team also has a few big-hitters in Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting and Suryakumar Yadav.
While the pace department would now depend mostly on Bumrah, Cutting and Mitchell McClenaghan, the youngsters like Krunal Pandya, Mayank Markande and Rahul Chahar could prove effective against the Delhi side.
Delhi Capitals, coming into the tournament with a new name, will be relying heavily on its batsmen to crack the Mumbai code.
The side has Shikhar Dhawan in its ranks and it is important that the left-handed batsman makes the most of the opportunity. In the recently-concluded ODI series against Australia, Dhawan could score only 177 runs in five innings, raising serious doubts about his form. And now, here is an opportunity for him to get back in shape and gain some confidence ahead of the World Cup.
The focus will also be on stumper-batsman, Rishabh Pant, who looks set for a Team India berth in the World Cup. The youngster has had an amazing run with the national team and the Delhi franchise will be hoping for him to come good.
Led by a Mumbai boy, Shreyas Iyer, the side also has a young talent in Prithvi Shaw, who could change the colour of any game. Seasoned campaigners, Colin Munro and Chris Morris, will also play a crucial role.
The visiting side’s pace department looks fiery with Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma and Kagiso Rabada in its ranks.
Ever since the inception of IPL, the Delhi franchise — previously known as Delhi Daredevils — has never made it to the final and it remains to be seen whether a fresh look and a new name will usher in a change in its fortunes.
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