Delhi Capitals lost a high-scoring match at the Wankhede against Mumbai Indians by 29 runs despite a brilliant counterattack by Tristan Stubbs. Stubbs hit seven sixes in his 25-ball attack of 71*, but DC failed to score in the final ten balls, when the ask was 42, due to a lack of strikes. In Mumbai’s batting innings, Romario Shepherd’s devastating last-over performance against Anrich Nortje proved to be the game-winning blow, giving the hosts their first points of the year.
Launchpad is provided by Rohit.
He started off with a cheeky four-lap lap shot before changing gears to give Mumbai the ideal starting point for their powerplay. Following consecutive sixes from Ishant Sharma, Rohit invited Jhye Richardson and Axar Patel into the attack. With three boundaries in four balls, he took on offspinner Lalit Yadav as well, ending the powerplay with 75 on the board. However, Axar destroyed him on a 27-ball 49 to give DC a much-needed breakthrough.
Delhi’s mid-overs comeback
MI suffered a double blow when Anrich Nortje dismissed the returning Suryakumar Yadav for a second-ball duck. Axar then carried on his tight stint, completing four consecutive overs, to slow down the Mumbai assault. After a 23-ball 42, he also made a spectacular return catch to dismiss the dangerous Ishan Kishan, finishing with 2-35. Between overs 10 and 15, MI managed to score just 33 runs, with Khaleel Ahmed catching Tilak Varma cheaply at backward point while he was trying to cut.
Shepherd and David drive MI to 234
David took the decision to accelerate when it appeared that MI would eventually settle for 180 degrees. He took the attack to the pacers at the end of the 60-run stand with his skipper, Hardik Pandya, smashing four sixes in his undefeated 21-ball 45. In the last over, David dismissed veteran Ishant Sharma to propel MI above the 200-mark. Nortje was greeted back with a four and a six, and he responded by taking Pandya’s wicket in the same over. Subsequently, Shepherd assumed control, hammering 4, 6, 6, 6, 4, 6 off the 20th over. MI’s solid total was turned into an intimidating one as the hosts extracted 96 runs from the last five overs thanks to his undefeated 39-ball cameo.
Shaw establishes DC’s foundation.
Bumrah kept the youthful starter quiet throughout the powerplay, but Shaw attacked Gerald Coetzee, hitting a six, and Akash Madhwal with consecutive fours to get DC moving. He then hit Piyush Chawla for two boundaries and a six with a slog-sweep in the first ball. Shaw raced to a quick thirty-one-ball half-century before MI turned to Bumrah, who duly gave the major breakthrough with a peach of a leg-stump toe-crusher that the DC opener had no answer for. Coetzee was still pricey even after the fielding limitations were lifted. That put Stubbs in the center.
Stubbs comes through almost.
Stubbs, who was promoted ahead of Rishabh Pant, did not waste any time in the meantime. In the last overs, he continued to assault MI after dismissing the miserly Bumrah, who finished with 2-22 after Abhishek Porel was bowled out for 41. He slog-swept Chawla twice in the span of four balls for sixes. Pant went in and out quickly, and Stubbs decided to keep DC on the trail. The South African began the 16th over with a 4, 6, 4, and Madhwal went for 19 before finishing with a fifty off 19 balls. In the penultimate over, Shepherd was taken for three sixes, bringing up the 200 for DC in a similar amount of time. But in the last over, there were no Romario-like fireworks as Stubbs did not even have to face a ball to get Delhi close.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 205/8 in 20 overs (Tristan Stubbs 71, Prithvi Shaw 66; Gerald Coetzee 4-34, Jasprit Bumrah 2-22) were defeated by 29 runs by Mumbai Indians 234/5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 49, Tim David 45, Ishan Kishan 42, Romario Shepherd 39*; Axar Patel 2-35).
