Mumbai Crushes Delhi In Qualifier, Enters Second Consecutive IPL Final

Defending champions Mumbai Indians entered their second consecutive IPL final after defeating Delhi Capitals in the first qualifier of this season. Interestingly, Mumbai became the second team after Chennai Super Kings to enter back-to-back finals. Winning the toss, Delhi opted to chase. Although R Ashwin gave an early breakthrough by dismissing Rohit Sharma for a golden duck, the Capitals' bowlers could not carry the momentum forward. While MI's batting line-up was consistently making runs, a 14-ball 37-run cameo from Hardik Pandya catapulted the score to 200. Chasing the target, DC's batting line-up was annihilated by ferocious bowling attacks from Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah. For a while, Marcus Stoinis attempted to play a match-winning knock but did not succeed as his inning succumbed to the scoreboard pressure. Bumrah's career-best bowling figures (4-14) won the game for Mumbai by 57 runs and earned a seat in the final. Now DC will play the winner of 'Eliminator' in 'Qualifier Two'.