The Mumbai Indians (MI) will look to firm up their position at the top of the VIVO IPL 2017 standings when they take on the Delhi Daredevils (DD) tonight.

Since the 7-wicket defeat to Rising Pune Supergiant at the start of the season, MI have stitched together a sequence of five consecutive wins. The team has become better by the day and players are putting up their hands and taking responsibilities when it has mattered; in their most-recent outing, they annihilated Kings XI Punjab, chasing down 199 without breaking a sweat.

Delhi Daredevils have been impressive, though the results won’t necessary back that claim; they’ve won only two matches – though that could have easily been four or five wins. In their last two outings, they have challenged their opponents, but have finished within touching distance of the post. Zaheer Khan’s captaincy has drawn praise from several quarters; his execution of strategy on the field, his field placements and his marshalling of troops has been brilliant. But the captain will be aware that his team needs to start garnering a few points and start making a move up the ladder.

MI have discovered a gem in Nitish Rana; the left-hander is the team’s top run-getter, and has contributed a significant number of runs on five of the six times he has walked out to bat. The 23-year old has showcased that he has the temperament to anchor the innings or take the attack to the opposition when required; if against SRH he scored at a strike-rate of 125, most recently against KXIP he scored 62 off 34 balls at a strike-rate of 182. Jos Buttler and Rohit Sharma will be expected to make big scores too.

Post his century, Sanju Samson has only given glimpses of the immense talent he possesses; the Delhi Daredevils batsman has that gift of timing and has the strokes too, but it is his choice of strokes and the timing of those strokes that has often disappointed. The 22-year-old will do well to start converting his starts into significant scores. Shreyas Iyer scored a fluent half-century the other day, and he will be keen to make a significant score on his home ground. Rishabh Pant has promised plenty and it is time the teenager started giving a good account of himself on a consistent basis.

Among the bowlers, look out for the old pros: Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga. Harbhajan might not have the wickets to show how well he has bowled, but his economy rate of 5.94 has certainly tied down MI’s opponents. Malinga should still be seething from Hashim Amla’s assault on Thursday night; the Sri Lankan has an impressive record against DD and he will have up against him a young and inexperienced batting line-up.

[Courtesy: Internet]