Winning the toss it was Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma who opted to bat. In came openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock to begin proceedings. The skipper of the Mumbai Indians needed to get some runs under his belt after a few poor outings. After a couple of economical overs by the Delhi Capitals bowlers, it was a counter-attacking reply by the opening duo of Rohit and De Kock.
Both the batters started taking the attack to the DC bowlers and raced off to 57/0 in the powerplay. Rohit Sharma looked in great touch and was supported brilliantly by Quinton de Kock. After making 30 of 22 deliveries, he was dismissed by a peach of a delivery from Amit Mishra. Ever since the dismissal, the run rate started going down considerably.
Ben Cutting who was promoted up the order was dismissed by a good delivery from Axar Patel. Just when Quinton de Kock looked like pressing on the accelerator, it was a miscommunication between him and Suryakumar Yadav which cost his wicket in the end. The Delhi Capitals bowlers made a sensational comeback in the middle overs and stopped the run flow of the visitors.
Kagiso Rabada bagged the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav to peg them back further. The wicket of Suryakumar saw Hardik Pandya join his brother Krunal Pandya in the middle. Hardik has been in swift form in this season and continued his good run to belt some over the ropes to bring Mumbai Indians back in the game. The India all-rounder took 15 runs off the 19th over from Chris Morris to go past the 150-run mark.
In the 20th over, Hardik struck Kagiso Rabada one over long off before the Proteas fast bowler bounced back to dismiss him in the next ball. However, Krunal Pandya kept the boundaries coming in as Mumbai Indians posted runs after the runs dried up in the middle overs.
Twitter Reactions
https://twitter.com/BeingSanz/status/1118909786433581056
#GameBanayegaName Hardik Pandya has smacked it over long-off. The whirlwind of the arms into the shot and it took the ball sailing into the stands. . #DCvMI #MyGameFace
— DÊV RÖY ⚫ (@InquisitorDev07) April 18, 2019
Seems a good decision to bat first now. #DCvMI
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 18, 2019
Really smart changes by #MI. Jayant to have an impact against his former team. Lots of lefties to bowl at. #DCvMI #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 18, 2019
With his unique stance deep in the crease @hardikpandya7 was able to hit helicopters for length balls. #DCvMI #Ipl19
— Harry✈? (@Srihari_08) April 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/sagarshah87/status/1118908145970159617
Super bowling by Axarpatel, really encouraging to see the speed of his deliveries and keeping the batsmen guessing, looks like @mipaltan needs a cameo from the big boys #Ipl2019 #MIvsDC
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/sull_noronha/status/1118903952278343682
One of the biggest fraud in the last 2 years, Krunal Pandya. Isko bhi Koffee pilao koi. #DCvMI
— Srijan (@its_Srijan) April 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/jha_tarkesh/status/1118910027790553089
Rohit needs to strongly consider Yuvraj ahead of Suryakumar, and regardless, change their batting order. We saw what Pollard could do when he promoted himself in Rohit’s absence. The captaincy (barring MSD and Ashwin) has been shambolic in this #IPL #MIvDC #DCvMI
— Vikram Mehta (@MehtaMorphosis) April 18, 2019
Hardhik Pandya playing an helicopter shot #DcvMI pic.twitter.com/Fs5x2RsnKg
— Deepak (@deepuzoomout) April 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/Prakash1049/status/1118880966263468033
Ben Cutting at 3 was a waste, specially when spinners were operating on this wicket #DCvMI
— Sanjay Parekh (@Sanjay93557) April 18, 2019
When your child underperforms in exams and then your rich parent ensures you will pass.. MI is the child here #DCvMI
— Pawan Bhatia (@pawanbhatia83) April 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/Ad_the_idol/status/1118903236285562880
https://twitter.com/AnirudhDutt/status/1118903133298548736
@mipaltan please exclude krunal or s.yadav from the squad in next match and include yuvraj Singh . These guys are playing really test/odi knocks which are not at all entertaining. @YUVSTRONG12 can hit at least a six or two which will make the fans jubilant. #DCvMI
— pratap#RC15™ (@pratapYevadu) April 18, 2019