Mumbai Indians have been spoilt for choice in the departments of batting and seam bowling and that is evident from the way things have gone for them. The bowling suddenly has three world-class seamers in Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson and the New Zealander Boult has become the leader of the pack in IPL 2020, with Bumrah just beginning to find his feet. So, when MI take on Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Boult will be given charge of limiting the RR top-order, including skipper Steve Smith, who needs to deliver if he wants his team to make headway in the league. Smith has been on and off the boil and no one would know that better than him. So, when he takes on Mumbai Indians, he will be ready for all comers, promising a fine face-off with Boult.
The Kiwi was the sideshow when IPL 2020 began since all eyes were on Bumrah. But he has begun making a telling difference, not just with his bowling but also his fielding.
Boult is among the top names on the IPL 2020 bowling list with eight wickets from five matches at an economy of 8.12. Overall, the left-arm seamer has 46 wickets from 38 matches at an economy of 8.69.
Smith has 127 matches from four IPL 2020 games with a strike rate of 147.67. When he has been good, he was brilliant. But sadly, not frequently enough so far.
Overall, Smith has played 85 IPL matches for 2149 runs with one century and 10 fifties and a strike rate of 129.92.
Note: All stats courtesy iplt20.com.