Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma’s fifty helps MI win their first match of season 16

Tim David and Camron Green have run through for two runs on the final ball to take Mumbai home in a thriller. It looked easy for the most part of the chase until the wicket of Rohit Sharma and the fabulous final death bowling spell from Mustafizur and Anrich Nortje who almost took the hosts home. Another fantastic game of cricket again today. Mumbai after losing two games in a row would be relived to get their first points on the board. Delhi Capitals on the other hand have now lost four games in four. However, despite the victory Mumbai has not looked convincing. They have their fair share of improvements that can be made. Delhi Capitals on the other hand can take plenty of positives from this game. All in all another excellent game of cricket.

Sriram Veera: He might have erred by bowling a pacy delivery first up in the 17th over of the chase to Rohit Sharma, but Mustafizur Rehman course-corrected immediately. Out came a slew of slower cutters, and Rohit couldn’t rotate strike. Then came the wicket taking ball, slower and wider, and Rohit reached out for the square drive but edged it. He took the DRS as he hoped it was a bump ball and the DRS replays momentarily took the focus away from what was a spectacular catch by the wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel. Almost Rashid Latif-ish in the acrobatic dive, right knee first touching the ground to stabilise before the leap. Porel plucked it out of thin air, got up solemnly to throw the ball in the air and awaited the DRS decision. After 19 over Mumbai Indians 168/4

This has been an excellent fightback from the Delhi Capitals bowlers in the last 15 minutes or so led by Mustafizur. They are nailing their Yorkers brilliantly here. The game which looked like an easy win for Mumbai Indians looks like in the balance now. David and Green are batting for Mumbai two of the best batters they could have in the middle at this point in time. After 18.1 over Mumbai Indians 154/4

Abhishek Porell takes a stunning catch as Rohit Sharma walks back. The skipper batted beautifully so far but got out when the side needed him the most. Trying to guide a yorker from Mustafizur towards the third man hits the ball in the air for a brief moment. Porell takes a Superman style catch flying in the air. After 16.5 over Mumbai Indians 143/4

Mukesh Kumar picks up Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. The left-hander took a liking to the pace of Mukesh and smashed him for 16 runs in the overs. Under pressure, Mukesh delivers another slot delivery. However, Varma mistimes the shot and Manish Pandey takes an easy catch on the boundary. Surya who came into bat after that once again goes for a golden duck. He plays his trademark flick shot staright to the fielder. After 16 over Mumbai Indians 139/3

Sandip G: On a surface that assisted spinners - the ball gripped, bounced and at times even spat—Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma expertly nullified them with sumptuous footwork and dexterous hands. Sharma, as he had displayed on rank turners over the years, is arguably the best player of spin-bowling in the country, but Varma was an unknown quotient. Instructive was how he defanged the threat of Kuldeep Yadav. Tall and with a long reach, he would jink down the ground to drill him down the ground for singles. Yadav would soon err on the shorter side, and Varma would rock deep into the crease, his back-foot almost hugging the stumps, would pull him mercilessly. It’s a risk-fraught shot to play against Kuldeep, who would occasionally spin his stock ball (one that goes away from left-handers) big, but Varma would nonchalantly unpack the pull. Soon after a pulled-six, he left his crease, Yadav pulled the length back, but Varma opened up his body and carved him inside-out over wide long-off for a six.  The stroke pleased the captain, who kept applauding him. After 15.2 over Mumbai Indians 133/1

Mustafizur brought back into the attack by Warner bowled a magnificent over. He mixed his slower balls with excellent yorkers. Tilak Varma who started well seems to struggle a bit with the slowness of the surface. Don't go anywhere folks this might be not over yet a couple of wickets here Capitals might be right back into it. After 15 over Mumbai Indians 123/1

Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma have batted beautifully. The promotion of the left-hander has worked nicely here so far. Warner on the other hand has removed Kuldeep Yadav from the attack which is a baffling move again. He has gone back to Lalit Yadav who is not a huge turner of the cricket ball. After 14 over Mumbai Indians 121/1

There has been no pressure put on by the Capitals bowlers whatsoever in the second innings. The way they have used Kuldeep Yadav is something they might have to rethink. On the wicket which is turning it is baffling how late Warner has left Kuldeep Yadav's overs whilst bringing back Nortje for his second over on a surface which has nothing for the seamers. Poor bit of tactics and game awareness from the capitals seems like the will lose again today making it four in four. After 13 over Mumbai Indians 117/1

Rohit Sharma scores a half-century after three years in the IPL. This has been a brilliant inning by the Mumbai Indians skipper. he stepped up when his side needed him the most. Now they want him to stay till the end and finish this game. Kuldeep Yadav is into his second over Warner would be hoping for him to pick a couple of wickets here. After 11. over Mumbai Indians 99/1

Warner has finally brought in Kuldeep Yadav here. However, Tilak Varma smashed him for a six and looked pro-active against him. There is not a lot of run rate pressure where the Mumbai batters have to take on Yadav. They simply can rotate the strike against him and wait for the odd loose ball whilst attacking the bowlers from the other end. After 10 over Mumbai Indians 90/1

David Warner has gone back to Anrich Nortje again. It is a surprising bit of captaincy from the Aussie. On a wicket which is turning he has not used his premium legspinner Kuldeep yet. By delaying his spell the Delhi Capitals are letting the new batter Tilak Verma settle in and if dew comes in Kuldeep may find it extremely hard to bowl with the wet ball. After 9over Mumbai Indians 82/1

Ishan Kishan goes after getting himself run-out. In a terrible mix-up, the left-hander goes. Rohit times one straight to the point fielder who stops the ball brilliantly meanwhile Kishan has come halfway down the pitch looking for a single and was sent back. Lalit Yadav collects the ball and simple runout as Kishan could not reach back on time. After 7.3 over Mumbai Indians 71/1

Sandip G: Two wary blocks in the first over and Rohit Sharma threw caution to the winds. Leaning onto the front-foot, he essayed the most silken of flicks, all touch and elegance. The next ball, the violent alter-ego of his batting surfaced, as he whistled down the pitch and deposited Mukesh Kumar to the tier above deep square-leg. A dot ball offered Kumar some respite, but Kumar’s last ball was wrapped in glitzy presentation paper and Sharma cajoled it through mid-off. But none of these strokes would be stamped in the memory of the audience as much as the whipped six over long-on, off the rapid Anrich Nortje. Every aspect, from the assertive front-foot stride and the delicious bat-swing to the stillness of his body when the bat meets the ball and the regal follow-through, suggested that he had reacquainted with his T20 batting touch. To establish it further, he glided Nortje’s next ball to the third-man fence. After 5 over Mumbai Indians 68/0

Axar Patel is brought in from the other end. Patel despite being economical in the last few years has hardly picked any wickets. Today on a wicket which is assisting spin he might be looking to turn things around. There are now signs of dew yet. If the dew does not come in the surface will get more and more difficult to bat on. After 5 over Mumbai Indians 59/0

Lalit Yadav is brought into the attack. He bowled a decent over. He turned the las ball of the over giving the Delhi Capitals fans some hope. However, the way Rohit and Kishan have batted so far Delhi need to pick a wicket immediately as the longer this partnership goes on they will put more pressure on the bowlers. After 4 over Mumbai Indians 49/0

Explosive start by Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan here. They have realised it may be difficult to score when the spinners get into the action. Hence both the openers are taking the new ball bowlers. Anrich Nortje was introduced to induce a bit of pace but the faster he bowled the faster the ball went to the boundary. After 3 over Mumbai Indians 42/0

Sandip G: Jason Behrendorff’s IPL has never quite taken off, despite the gifts of being left-handed, blessed with height and skid, ability to swing both ways and a cool temperament. But his 19th over against Delhi Capitals could well spark his career. He took three wickets for just a run so that Delhi would not tear away in the last two overs. He was perhaps fortunate with Axar Patel’s wicket, as he could not adequately connect a leg-side gift. But the wicket of David Warner offered a fleeting glimpse into his talents. It was an expertly bowled leg-cutter that danced in the air. Warner, early into the slog, top-edged. Then Abishek Porel jammed the only run of the over before Kuldeep Yadav ran himself out and Porel held out at mid-off. Porel had given the charge, but Behrendorff had spotted and pulled his length back. His surname would invite curious glances. He is of German descent, and  Behrendorff literally translates into “bear in the village”.  In an interview to European Cricket Network, he had said that it was  his “ancestors’ duty to chase bears back into the Black Forest when they threatened the villagers.” His great grandparents, though, had to flee the village during World War 1.  The extra “f” was added on the end of his surname to avoid persecution, he explained. After 2 over Mumbai Indians 27/0

Mukesh Kumar is brought into the side and is given the new ball immediately. He similar to the Mumbai seamers pitched the ball up looking for swing. However, Mukesh had the same results as the Mumbai new ball bowlers had with no help from the surface. Rohit is looking in good touch here. Mumbai needs him to play a captain inning for them to win this game. After 1 over Mumbai Indians 14/0

I was backing my confidence, went with an attacking mindset and the plan was if the ball was in my slot and I'd go for it. The ball was stopping a bit and I wanted to hold my shape while trying for the big hits. We posted a challenging score and hopefully we can restrict them. There is enough in it for the bowlers.

The score might deceive a lot about the surface and the batting of the Capitals. However, most of the score is a product of Axar Patel's heroics in the middle overs. The same other problems persisted in today's game as well. Shaw failed again middle order offered no resistance Warner struggled with his timing as well.  Mumbai on the other hand had very similar issues they had in previous games with the ball. They have bowled well in short spells but struggled to do the same for a longer period. It has been bitter-sweet first half for both sides. It is still a decent total for Delhi Capitals to defend. Mumbai Indians with their batting line up would be backing themselves to chase this one. Don't go anywhere folks we will be having a blockbuster second half. 

David Warner struggling with his timing throughout the innings eventually perished. After a productive partnership between two left-handers now Delhi Capitals has lost a few wickets in quick time. They looked like they would get to 180 runs at one point during the partnership however, it seems to be a little far-fetched now. Later in the over Kuldeep gets himself runout pushing them into further trouble.  After 18.4 overs Delhi Capitals 166/8

Axar Patel scores a blistering half-century and gets out. He trying to hit another maximum of Jasnon Berehndroff perishes. However, it is the innings which gave the Capitals a move on. He would be disappointed that he could not score a bit more however, he did the damage. After 18 overs Delhi Capitals 165/6

The left-arm seamer has bowled only one over with the new ball. He is not known to be very good at death. Axar Patel absolutely smashed him all over the park. Suryakumar Yadav second time in the night misjudged the ball hit by Axar and the ball goes for a maximum. In the process of taking a catch, he injured himself. Mumbai would be hoping it is nothing serious. After 17 overs Delhi Capitals 151/5

Axar Patel has been in good batting form in the last few months. He showed again today why he has become one of the most lethal T20 players in modern times. In addition to his batting now the Capitals will also need his bowling to come good in the second innings. David Warner on the other hand despite struggling with his timing hangs on and goes past 50. This partnership is blossoming nicely he might be looking to up the strike rate in the final overs. After 16 overs Delhi Capitals 136/5

Sandip G: Piyush Chawla does not look as fresh-faced as when he burst into Indian cricket as the teenaged-heir of Anil Kumble. For a long time, he seemed to resist ageing, but finally the weariness of playing competitive cricket for 15-plus years has caught up with him. But he still remains a force in the IPL, which he showed by ejecting Manish Pandey and Rovman Powell, the latter with a low-slung googly and the former with a tossed up leg-break. Pandey, he knew, was unleashing power on every ball, a slow, tossed-up ball was the ideal killer ball. So he hurried him with a couple of flat balls, angling-in and skidding, before slipping in the slower, leg-break that Pandey mistimed to long-off. Powell was trapped in three balls, first a googly that he inside-edged onto the pads, then a slider that he swept and missed before another googly foxed Powell’s tepid prod from the crease. He was not finished, in his last over, he ripped in another googly to break the stumps of Lalit Yadav and return with figures of 4-0-22-3. In the big auction-churn last year, he had gone unsold, but he has made a resounding comeback. Perhaps not as fresh-faced as he once used to be, but as effective as he used to be. After 15 overs Delhi Capitals 123/5

With two left-handers batting in David Warner and Axar Patel. Rohit has brought Tilak Varma here. He has been top-class with his captaincy today. He has been pro-active with his bowling changes and field placements and seems like things has started to fall into place. Mumbai Indians are looking in a good position in this game so far.  After 14 overs Delhi Capitals 110/5

Piyush Chawla picks up Lalit Yadav. Another one bits the dust. This has been brilliant captaincy by Rohit the way he attacked with Chawla. The leg-spinner bowled beautifully he tossed the ball up varied his pace and mixed up his variations. This is not all looking for Delhi Capitals again today. After 12.3 overs Delhi Capitals 98/5

David Warner is absolutely furious with Lalit Yadav. The skipper trying to hit one over the top almost gets caught at the edge of the circle by Chawla. Lalit Yadav watching the ball does not go for the run despite Warner calling and reaching the other end. It is all happening here. Warner is again struggling with his timing today. DC needs to calm themselves down here and try and build a partnership After 12 overs Delhi Capitals 95/4

Piyush Chawla picks up Rovman Powell. The leg-spinner bowled a wrong one to which Powell had no answers. The batter trying to defend the ball did not pick the one which came back in. It was a simple decision for the umpire however, he reluctantly to reviews it and walked back before the third umpire decison. This has been a fabulous spell of bowling from Chawla today. After 10.4 overs Delhi Capitals 86/4

Sandip G: Manish Pandey’s stocks seemed to have plummeted. Last season, he could just hoard 88 runs in six innings; in the only game of this season he collected a duck. His struggles seemed to continue, as he fidgeted for a five-ball one. Then, he decided to go all guns blazing. He clumped Riley Meredith through long-on, a shot out of pure desperation. An under-edge pull brought him another four, and suddenly he was flying.  He then latched onto the benign off-breaks of Hrithik Shokeen, picking him for a pair of boundaries, first a good ol' biff through mid-wicket, followed by a fierce whip through deep square-leg after stepping down the deck and dishevelling the bowler’s line. Usually, a timing-reliant batter, he leant on his power game to see him out of the rut. But  his chancy knock ended on 26, held out at the deep, trying to power Piyush Chawla over the long-off fence. Not for Pandey, the power game. After 10.3 overs Delhi Capitals 86/3

Against the inexperience of Yash Dhull Rohit decided to go back to Meredith and it worked. Dhull trying to pull one into the stands despite timing the ball well perishes to a terrific catch on the boundary by Wadedara  The Australian quickie seems to be in good rhythm he has bowled with good pace and his control over his line and length has been fabulous so far. After 9.5 overs Delhi Capitals 81/3

Piyush Chawla picks up Manish Pandey. The right-hander kept taking his chances throughout the innings. He tried to do the same against the leg spin of Piyush Chawla. He mistimed the ball ending up giving a simple catch to Behrendroff. Debutant Yash Dhull walks into the middle. After 8.3 overs Delhi Capitals 76/2

Shokeen bowled a no ball in the over and David Warner batted right-handed to face the free-hit delivery. He did not time the ball well enough. Seems like both Manish Pandey and Warner are going to keep attacking unlike the previous games where Warner tried to play the anchor role and Manish Pandey too is known to do that in the past. After 8 overs Delhi Capitals 75/1

Sandip G: The short ball spooks Prithvi Shaw like a ghost spotting a cross. But gift him full or even good-length balls, he unpacks his minimalistic drives. Like his first two fours. The first was a sleek straight drive—the tall leftie Jason Behrendorff striving for inward swing over-pitched and Shaw just offered a full-faced push that sent the ball scorching down the ground. The second was a splendid back-foot punch off another left-arm seamer Arshad Khan. A bit of width was offered and Shaw shifted to his back-foot and drove him on the rise through covers. Strangely, neither Khan or Behrendorff tested him with short-balls. Shaw then crunched another boundary, a mighty thump through covers off Hrithik Shokeen. And then, anti-climatically he swept Shokeen straight to Cameron Green at backward square-leg. Shaw was aghast at himself, and walked back to the dressing room looking utterly lost. He was looking in million-dollar touch, before a shot of indiscretion undid him. After 7 overs Delhi Capitals 60/1

Hrithik Shokeen has been brought back to bowl his second over in the Powerplay. One of the balls in the over gripped and turned. This is good captaincy from Rohit Sharma continuing with the off-spinner. Manish Pandey being the right-hander might be the aggressor against the off-spinner here in the partnership. After 6 overs Delhi Capitals 51/1

Meredith is brought into the attack and is bowling with some serious pace here. However, both Manish Pandey and David Warner are good players of pace bowling and would enjoy this rather than spin. This is a good start for the Capitals despite loosing Shaw as they are getting boundaries every now and then and keeping the run-rate up. After 5 overs Delhi Capitals 42/1

Hritik Shokeen picks up Prithvi Shaw. The aggressive opener looked good before trying to slog-sweep, Shokeen. The ball went straight into the hands of Cameron Green who was fielding at fine-leg in the ring. Manish Pandey walks into the middle for the Capitals.  After 3.4 over Delhi Capitals 33/1

Interesting move by Rohit Sharma early in the piece bringing the all-rounder in rather than continuing with Berhendroff or giving the ball to Riley Meridith. He seems to be a bit more proactive today with his field placements and bowling changes than he did against Chennai Super Kings. However, no wickets to show for all the tactics employed so far. After 3 over Delhi Capitals 29/0

The left-arm seamer has started badly again. He slipped in a couple of short-pitch balls to Warner and one full one. He is fortunate that he has not gone for a lot more runs than the figures suggest in the over. After taking a pasting against Ajinkya Rahane in the previous game due to indecisive lengths here again he seems to struggle and commit the same mistakes. After 2 over Delhi Capitals 19/0

Both the openers Warner and Shaw are looking in good touch and have started positively here. Jason Beherendorff trying to see if there is any swing or seam moment of the surface tried to pitch a few balls up to the batters. However, both Shaw and Warner up to the task played the ball well. After 1 over Delhi Capitals 7/0

The umpires walk into the middle so do Mumbai Indians. David Warner will walk into the middle along side Prithvi Shaw. The opening combination has not fired in this tournament so far and so did Mumbai's bowling attack. Both teams will be looking to change that and get off-the mark today. Jason Berhendroff has the new ball he will exploit any moment on offer from the surface. 

Delhi Capitals Subs: Aman Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Sarfaraz Khan, Praveen Dubey, Ishant Sharma

Mumbai Indians Subs: Tristan Stubbs, Tim David, Kumar Karthikeya, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh

We got a great bunch of guys in the camp, it's a very pleasant weather as you mentioned. I think we all know we need some more runs on the board, our whole performance has not been great at the moment. The guys need to believe in their ability, and I am pretty sure with the right temperament and attitude we can eventually cross the line. Both the teams are under pressure, we haven't got off to a winning start, so tonight is a big pressure game. It's a massive game in front of our home crowd, hopefully we can put up a good performance. It's good to have that camaraderie in the team.

The dimensions are quite unique. 60 metres, the shorter of the two square boundaries and 70 metres on the other side. Down the ground it is 73 metres. Lot of grass halfway down in the middle of the pitch and around the 3-4 metre length, a bit of patchy grass and a bit of bare patches which could mean a bit of indifferent bounce which could be a challenge. The important thing for the bowlers is to hit those bare pitches right and consistently. Quick outfield and wind to play a factor tonight

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner(c), Manish Pandey, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Abishek Porel(w), Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman

Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Riley Meredith

We would have done the same thing. For me it is about finding rhythm and as a whole group we gotta work harder and get sharper. We got a forced change, Khaleel Ahmed is injured and we got Yash Dhull in place of him. Also Rilee Rossouw makes way for Mustafizur Rahman. All the boys are up and about, we gotta adapt to the situations and pumped to be playing in front of the home ground.

We will bowl first. We batted in the first 2 games, didn't do well enough. The pitch looks dry and probably take some turn and dew might also be a factor tonight. We got Riley Meredith in place of Stubbs. The other changes is about the impact players. We will see how it goes. When the chips are down you need the senior players to stand up. Jofra is not available.

Riley Meridith comes in for Tristian Stubbs for Mumbai Indians. Jofra Archer is still unavailable.

Yash Dhull comes in for Khaleel Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman comes in for Rilee Rosouww

(On having a good time with the bat) If you get a good start in the first match, then your confidence rises going ahead in the tournament. There is only one thing in mind now as how I can help our team to win matches. Last year it was my first season of IPL, I batted well but I couldn’t finish a few matches for the team. This year my goal is to play more impactful knocks. (On scoring more than 400 runs last season) Playing for a franchise like Mumbai Indians and scoring runs gives you confidence, the important thing is to be consistent. Our preparation has been good but partnerships are required to post a big total.

Yash Dull is all set to make his debut for the Delhi Capitals. Given the batting woes of Delhi and Dhull's domestic form seems like a sensible move. However, at this stage, it is a battle of temperament rather than talent. We will find out how he goes against 5-times champions.

Up next ?@DelhiCapitals ? @mipaltan

Another cracking contest on the cards ?

We'll find that soon ? #TATAIPL | #DCvMI pic.twitter.com/rJ8ylolNTQ

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2023

Earlier in the week the Capitals coach said, "Everyone around the world knows what Surya can do in white-ball cricket. They should stick with him, I feel Because he is, I think, the kind of player that can win you a World Cup. He might be a little bit inconsistent but he’s the sort of guy who in big moments can win you something."

There’s going to be light at the end of the tunnel, he’s going to be seeing that very soon. And when he sees that, he’s going to grab it and make the most of it. So the advice to him would be just give yourself a little bit of time early on, even though it’s T20 cricket. One good hit and you’re on your way. That’s what he needs – one good hit, and a little bit of time at the crease. Not 20-30 minutes, maybe six balls or eight balls, and I think he’d be fine.

With the weak middle order, Delhi Capitals might rope in Phil Salt in place of Rovman Powell, who has failed to impress in this season so far. Delhi Capitals acquired the services of Salt for INR 2 crore at the one-day mini-auction in Kochi on December 23. Salt is yet to make his debut in the IPL, but is an experienced campaigner in the shortest format of the game. He has scored 3817 runs in 167 matches in his T20 career so far.

Delhi Capitals assistant coach Pravin Amre on Tuesday has revealed that Khaleel Ahmed is unlikely to play against Mumbai after he pulled his hamstring in the last match againsr Rajasthan Royals. “We are still waiting for the scan reports,” said Amre. In Khaleel’s absence fellow left-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya, who played Delhi opening game could come in.

Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in the past had their share of troubles against left-arm-spin. Both the superstars strike at 83 and 86 respectively. Axar Patel looking at those numbers would be rubbing his hands to bowl against them. However, given the ground dimensions in Delhi, it will be fascinating to see how effective he will be.

In Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, they were heavily dependent on Jofra Archer. But he too, experienced discomfort in his right elbow and missed their previous game against Chennai Super Kings. But on the eve of the match all-rounder, Cameron Green made it clear that everyone is fit and available. In the first match against RCB, Jofra looked a bit rusty but if Delhi continues to play on the spicy pitch on which they had played against Gujarat, the English pacer could prove to be a real challenge for Delhi openers.