It turned out to be a convincing victory for Mumbai Indians as they defeated Delhi Capitals by 40 runs in the 34th match of the competition to get to the 2nd position in the points table. It was a sensational all-round performance by the franchise which was largely influenced by a great performance from the Pandya brothers. The bowling department was quite brilliant for MI as they restricted DC to 129 in their allotted 20 overs which handed the three-time champions their 6th victory of the tournament.
The Turning point of the match
There were a few turning points in the match. First, with the bat, it was the late partnership between the Pandya brothers which propelled Mumbai Indians to an above score of 168 in their allotted 20 overs. Hardik Pandya struck a quickfire 32 of 15 deliveries which included 2 fours and 3 sixes. His brother also played a brilliant hand and remained unbeaten on 37 of 26 deliveries which were studded with 5 fours.
With the ball in hand, the spell from Rahul Chahar proved to be the difference between the two sides. Amit Mishra also bowled brilliantly early on for DC. However, Shreyas Gopal might have missed a trick by not bowling him his full quota of overs. Rahul Chahar, on the other hand, spun a web for the Mumbai Indians and the DC batters had no answers to his guile and variations. The dismissal of Shreyas Iyer would certainly rate as one of the balls of the tournament.
Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians- 2nd innings
Delhi Capitals needed to get off to a good start to have hopes of chasing down the target on a difficult Kotla pitch. Shikhar Dhawan looked in ominous touch and began with a few exquisite shots. The southpaw looked set for a big score and raced to 35. However, while attempting a reverse sweep he was dismissed by leg spinner Rahul Chahar.
The leggie bowled quite brilliantly and bamboozled the DC batters. He also bagged the wicket of Prithvi Shaw with good slow delivery. On the other end, it was Krunal Pandya who castled Colin Munro with faster delivery. The ball of the match came when Rahul Chahar squared up Shreyas Iyer with a peach of a delivery. The ball had the perfect loop and more importantly, it turned sharply to beat the batsman.
From there on it was always going to be a difficult task for the Delhi Capitals. Rishabh Pant who had made his presence felt during their earlier meet in the tournament failed to time the ball and was eventually dismissed by an inswinging delivery from Jasprit Bumrah. The speedster bowed brilliantly and finished with exceptional figures of 2/18 in his 4 overs spell.
Chris Morris and Axar Patel struck a few lusty blows but by then the match was done and dusted. Eventually, Delhi Capitals managed to score 128 in 20 overs, thus handing Mumbai Indians a comprehensive victory by 40 runs.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals- 128/9 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 35, Axar Patel 26, Rahul Chahar 3/19, Jasprit Bumrah 2/18)
Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians- 1st innings ‘
The trend for the IPL has been winning the toss and field. However, Rohit Sharma decided to bat on a slow Feroz Shah Kotla track where they left anywhere close to 140 would be a total to fight with. Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock began quite brilliantly with a few wonderful boundaries. De Kock played a couple of his signature shots while Rohit also looked in good touch.
The duo shared a 57 runs stand before Amit Mishra castled Rohit Sharma with a peach of a delivery. The ball pitched in the leg stump and turned sharply to square up Rohit Sharma. It was an unplayable delivery as the ball went through his defence and disturbed the timbers. From there on Mumbai Indians lost a couple more wickets which pegged them back.
The Delhi Capitals bowlers made a grand comeback in the middle overs and never allowed Mumbai to get going. However, it was when the Pandya brothers join hands that the fireworks began. Hardik Pandya carried on his sensational form in the tournament and smashed a whirlwind 32 off just 15 deliveries which were studded with 2 fours and 3 humungous sixes.
His brother Krunal Pandya also played a nice hand and was the perfect foil for his hard-hitting brother. The southpaw eventually remained unbeaten on 36 of 27 deliveries which included 5 fours. The pick of the Delhi Capitals bowler was again Kagiso Rabada who chipped in with a couple of wickets for 38 runs.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indians- 168/5 in 20 overs (Krunal Pandya 37*, Quinton de Kock 35, Hardik Pandya 32, Kagiso Rabada 2/38)
Mumbai Indians won by 40 runs