One would have thought that Mumbai Indians had no business winning the match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, when Delhi Capitals were at 113/1 at the half-way mark.
But with Karn Sharma (3-36) and Mitchell Santner (2-36) taking five wickets each and excellent ground fielding, MI managed to complete a stunning come-from-behind win to win by 12 runs, just their second victory of this season, and halt DC’s winning juggernaut.
After Tilak Varma’s 59, his second fifty of the season, headlined MI’s massive 205/5, Karun Nair, playing his first IPL game of the season, played a breathtaking 89 as DC’s impact player and clinching a win looked like a cakewalk for DC. But losing five wickets in six overs, including Karun, after the tenth over, got MI back in the match.
Despite Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj Nigam threatening to pull off another heist for DC, their sub-par batting and MI’s excellent fielding plus bowling, along with ball changes after the 13th over, ensured the hosts were all out for 193 in 19 overs.
DC lost Jake Fraser-McGurk on the first ball of chasing 206 when he chipped to cover off Deepak Chahar. Karun took on Trent Boult by hitting three delightful fours – a cover drive was followed by a crunchy cut shot and another glorious drive. MI’s move to bring in Jasprit Bumrah didn’t give the desired control as Karun lofted him over cover for four before slashing him between cover and point for another boundary.
After Karun slashed Chahar to bring up DC’s fifty in just fifth over, Bumrah was again taken to the cleaners as the batter whipped and lofted inside-out with sumptuous ease before a brace got him his fifty in 22 balls. Karun’s fireworks continued as he moved across to scoop Hardik Pandya for six before sweeping Karn for another maximum.
Hardik came under thrashing again as Karun slashed and heaved him for four and six respectively. But just after that, MI’s fightback began. Abishek Porel slog-swept to running deep square leg off Karn. Though Karun marched forward with boundaries coming off reverse-lap, sweep and bisecting long-on and deep mid-wicket to perfection, Mitchel Santner got one to turn past his outside edge and castled him for 89.
Sensing an opening, MI brought back Bumrah, and he dismissed Axar Patel cheaply. MI then reaped the immediate reward of a ball change, as Tristan Stubbs holed out to long-on off Karn, while the leg spinner easily caught KL Rahul’s top edge on a sweep off his bowling.
With 42 runs needed off 24 balls, Boult nailed five yorkers to give away only three runs in the 17th over. After Santner was handed the 18th over, Nigam targeted him by dancing down the pitch to hit him for six and was followed by the all-rounder, earning a four via a well-placed cut.
But Santner had the last laugh by having Nigam stumped for 14. Ashutosh kept hope alive for a thrilling finish by reverse-scooping and edging Bumrah for consecutive fours before he, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohit Sharma were chaotically run out on successive balls to give MI a memorable win.
Previously, all of MI’s batters, barring captain Hardik Pandya, had started, but only Varma marched forward to make 59 off 33 balls, with 22 of his runs coming through the mid-wicket region. He was also supported by Naman Dhir making 38 not out at the fag end. All their bowlers were expensive for DC, barring Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam.
Ryan Rickleton began well by flicking and driving to collect fours while swivelling for a mighty six over mid-wicket. Rohit Sharma got into the groove and picked a six off a top-edge on scoop – a top-notch lofted drive followed a neat square drive, as 19 runs came off third over.
DC struck when Rohit missed a length ball while trying to slog-sweep Nigam and was trapped lbw on review. Giving Mukesh his third power-play didn’t pay off for DC as Rickleton pulled him for four, while Suryakumar Yadav brought out his trademark flick for six, as MI ended the power-play at 59/1.
But Rickleton couldn’t convert his great start into a big score as Kuldeep Yadav’s googly flattened his middle stump. With Tilak getting boundaries off pull, reverse sweep, lofted punch down the ground and even off top-edges, Suryakumar put out a masterclass in sweeping for fours off Kuldeep, Axar and Nigam, while flicking Mohit Sharma once for a boundary.
But DC struck in consecutive overs to slow down MI’s charge – Suryakumar holed out to long-off on a googly from Kuldeep, while Nigam dismissed Pandya in the same fashion. Varma, though, led MI’s fightback by lofting and flicking Nigam and Kuldeep for boundaries before bringing up his fifty in 26 balls.
With Naman Dhir and Tilak hooking Mohit for a four reach, including the latter surviving an lbw appeal off him, MI were primed to reach the 200-mark. That increased further when Dhir swivelled and whipped Starc for consecutive fours, before Tilak sliced over third man for third boundary of the 18th over.
Tilak earned another reprieve on 54 when Mukesh and Ashutosh Sharma collided chest-on while taking his catch at backward point, while Axar missed a chance to inflict his run out. Though Tilak swept straight to deep mid-wicket off Mukesh, MI had crossed the 200-mark by then, sufficient to get a much-needed win.
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 205/5 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 59, Ryan Rickleton 41; Kuldeep Yadav 2-23, Vipraj Nigam 2-41) beat Delhi Capitals 193 all out in 19 overs (Karun Nair 89, Abishek Porel 33; Karn Sharma 3-36, Mitchell Santner 2-43) by 12 runs
–IANS
