Mumbai Indians produced a professional performance with bat and ball as they defeated Delhi Capitals by 29 runs and registered their first victory of IPL 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Sunday.
After a stupendous batting effort led by the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tim David and the icing on the cake by Romario Shepherd, the bowlers led by Gerard Coetzee and Jasprit Bumrah restricted Delhi Capitals to 205/8 in 20 overs.
Tristan Stubbs’ 71 and Prithvi Shaw’s 66 were the notable contributions for DC but their efforts were just not enough for the visitors to cross the line. The defeat was Capitals’ fourth in five matches.
Earlier, a late-order blitz by Romario Shepherd and Tim David complimented the opening fireworks from Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan as Mumbai Indians set Delhi Capitals a mammoth target of 235 to win.
Shepherd’s takedown of Anrich Nortje in the 20th over that saw him slamming four sixes and two fours in a total of 32 runs was the highlight of the Mumbai Indians’ splendid batting effort.
Shepherd ended with 39 runs from 10 balls with a mind-boggling strike rate of 390 while David struck 45 off 21 balls comprising two fours and four sixes as Mumbai Indians reached 234/5 in 20 overs.
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan set the tone after MI lose the toss:
Rohit and Kishan were in a fiery mood early on in the powerplay as they blasted the Delhi Capitals bowlers all over the park. The former Mumbai Indians skipper smashed 49 off just 27 balls as he took apart the likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav to give the home side the initial impetus that was so crucial.
The Mumbai Indians reached 75/0 by the end of the powerplay as Rohit and Kishan slammed fours and sixes galore to entertain the packed house at the Wankhede on a balmy Sunday afternoon.
Kishan was going strong at 26 off 16 balls with four boundaries and the Mumbai Indians appeared to have the game under control. The introduction of Axar Patel did not yield the desired result in the initial stages as Rohit took him to the cleaners with sixes and fours.
However, Patel had the last laugh as he castled an ambitious Rohit off the last ball of the seventh over to give the Delhi Capitals a breather. The much aniticipated return of Suryakumar Yadav turned out to be a damp squib as ‘SKY’ holed out to mid on where substitute J Fraser-McGurk plucked a tricky catch off Anrich Nortje.
The match was back on an even keel after Mumbai Indians lost these two key wickets as the Capitals looked to bounce back. Skipper Hardik Pandya and Kishan sought to reestablish Mumbai Indians’ primacy in the game and the duo brought out their belligerent best.
Middle-order batters also shine for the home side:
Pandya and Kishan dealt in maximums and fours and put the pressure back on the Capitals and MI were 105/2 at the end of 10 overs. However, Kishan’s joy did not last for too long as he was snapped up by Patel who took an absolute stunner of a caught and bowled opportunity.
The southpaw was a goner for a well-made 42 off 23 balls with four boundaries and two sixes at a strike rate of 182.6. Tilak Varma didn’t hang around for long making just six runs as he was caught at backward point by Patel off Khaleel Ahmed.
Mumbai Indians were in a spot of bother at 121/4. Just when it appeared MI were struggling to raise the tempo, Pandya launched himself into Khaleel Ahmed and even Tim David was in an aggressive mode smashing a six. At 167/4 after 17 overs, the Mumbai Indians seemed headed for a score in excess of 200.
