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The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 final began in grand style for Mumbai Indians (MI) as their pacer Trent Boult removed Delhi Capitals'(DC) Marcus Stoinis on the first ball of the match.
It was undoubtedly a dream start for MI as the New Zealand fast-bowler started the proceedings with an absolute stunner. It was a back of length delivery that was going away, but it suddenly moved back in after pitching.
The sudden movement surprised Stoinis as he was cramped for room and the ball took the outside edge to land in the hands of wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
Here is the video:
https://twitter.com/CowCorner9/status/1326172103742156801
With the dismissal of Stoinis, Boult etched his name in record books as he became the first bowler to take a wicket on the very first ball of an IPL final.
For the DC, things went from bad to worse because Boult struck once again, this time in the third over to sent Ajinkya Rahane back into the dugout for 2. After picking the wicket of Rahane, the Kiwi quick also equalled Mitchell Johnson’s record of 16 wickets in the powerplay for MI.
In the match, DC could only manage to post 156/7 in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, MI chased down the target with eight balls to spare. The Rohit Sharma-led side made 157/5 in 18.4 overs to win IPL 2020.
“Happy that I gave franchise good starts in the tournament:” Boult
Boult finished the game with impressive figures of 4-0-30-3. For the fantastic performance in the final battle, Boult received the ‘Player of the Match’ award. He became the second overseas player for MI to bag the recognition in an IPL final after Kieron Pollard in 2013.
Overseas player winning Man of the Match in IPL finals
- Kieron Pollard MI v CSK 2013
- Ben Cutting SRH v RCB 2016
- Shane Watson CSK v SRH 2018
- Trent Boult MI v DC 2020
After the match, Boult talked about his performance in IPL 2020 and said he was happy that he could give MI good starts in the powerplays.
“Some days I do like the powerplay. It’s been a good few months, giving the franchise a good start. With everything going on, I’ve been welcomed in the side. To have made it across the line, it’s been worth it. I wasn’t aware of the talk, but I did have a niggle coming into the match,” said Boult at the post-match presentation.
“I wanted to be on the stage, and happy I came through. I’d like to say I’m relatively experienced. Just another game and I was clear what I had to do. Tried to take a few early wickets, swing the new ball a little bit, that’s been my role in the side,” he added.
