IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma led Mumbai won their match against DC. (BCCI/IPL) With the six-wicket loss against Mumbai Indians, David Warner-led Delhi has succumbed to their fourth straight loss.
With five needed off six balls, it was Mumbai Indians’ match to lose. Anrich Nortje bowled an excellent last over and if Mukesh had not dropped Tim David at mid-wicket, the home team might have opened their account.
However, it was not the case as Mumbai Indians managed to cross the line off the last ball with David and Cameron Green stealing two runs to get their team off the mark.
Chasing 173 to win, Mumbai Indians openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan came out all guns blazing; the duo looted 62 runs in the Powerplay. The surface had eased out, and Rohit and Ishan put the Delhi bowlers under the pump straight away. Rohit teed off with two boundaries and a six off Mukesh Kumar. Kishan then smashed a hat-trick of boundaries against Mustafizur Rahman.
Another result on the final ball of the game 🙌
An epic game to record @mipaltan‘s first win of the season 🔥🔥
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/6PWNXA2Lk6 #TATAIPL | #DCvMI pic.twitter.com/u3gfKP5BoC
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2023
Delhi Capitals’ best bowler, Anrich Nortje was taken for 15 runs in his first over, including an effortless six over mid-wicket by Rohit. Skipper David Warner was forced to bring his spinners Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel inside the Powerplay, but the ploy backfired.
The only way Delhi looked like getting a wicket was through a run-out, and it came through miscommunication. Kishan was caught ball-watching as Rohit charged through, Mukesh Kumar gathered the ball at point and threw it to the non-striker’s end and Lalit Yadav whipped off the bails. Ishan departed for 31.
Meanwhile, Rohit, joined by Tilak Varma, continued his onslaught and completed his fifty in 29 balls. Varma and Rohit put on another fifty-plus partnership.
Effortless!
The Rohit-Sharma pickup shot ✨🤌
FIFTY partnership up for the opening wicket 🙌#TATAIPL | #DCvMI | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/9QqsvmFXL4
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2023
SKY falls for another first-ball duck
It is getting from bad to worse for Suryakumar Yadav, the world’s top-ranked T20 batsman. His stock has plummeted and he has found the going tough in recent times. The 32-year-old managed 15 and one in his first two outings for Mumbai and was gone for a first-ball duck against Delhi. It was the fourth golden duck for the Mumbai batter in recent times, as was out for first-ball ducks in the three-match ODI series against Australia last month.
Bowlers give Delhi hope
Delhi bowlers did put the brakes on the run-scoring in the middle overs. From over 12 to 15, Mumbai only managed to add 12 runs. Tilak ended the drought with one four and two sixes off Mukesh’s bowling. Mukesh did have redemption as he ended with a double strike, getting Varma and Suryakumar Yadav.
Abhishek Porel then took a sensational catch to end Rohit Sharma’s knock. Rohit’s departure gave Delhi a glimmer of hope. With 20 needed in the last two overs, David and Cameron Green hit a six each in a Mustafizur over.
Chawla’s impact
The ‘Impact Player’ rule has given some veteran players a second wind. After Amit Mishra and Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla on Tuesday showed why they are still valuable in this format.
Rohit Sharma and Piyush Chawla. (IPL)
Chawla was introduced by Rohit after the Powerplay, and the 34-year-old leg-spinner ended up being Mumbai’s best bowler. He first broke the 43-run stand between David Warner and Manish Pandey for the second wicket. The latter failed to read the leg-break and was caught at long-off by Jason Behrendorff. Then he pinned Rovman Powell, who looked like a walking wicket. Next in, Lalit Yadav was undone by another wrong ’un as it breached the gap between his bat and pad. Chawla finished with impressive figures of 3 for 22.
Another failure for Shaw
On the eve of the match, Delhi Capitals assistant coach Praveen Amre spoke about their openers lacking intent in the Powerplay and the plan being to make the most of the fielding restrictions. Delhi had their best opening partnership (34 runs) of the season.
Warner and Prithvi Shaw were off the blocks quickly. Shaw looked good against the seamers; he teed off with a delightful boundary, a punch down the ground. The backfoot punch through the covers against Arshad Khan gave a glimpse of his talent. At the other end, Warner hit two boundaries off Green to keep up the tempo.
After a fine start, Shaw threw away his wicket in a bizarre fashion. He swept straight into the hands of Green, who was patrolling the square-leg boundary.
Warner’s struggles
In the first three matches, the Delhi team management cited the reason behind Warner’s low strike rate to a cluster of wickets in the Powerplay. But the Aussie is looking like a pale shadow of his former self. He scored a 47-ball 51, his third fifty in the competition and the slowest too.
Warner got a reprieve on 37, when he was dropped by Chawla. The left-hander tried everything, looked to slog, punched his bat in anger, and even switched his guard to play the free hit against off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen. He was finally undone by the slower leg-cutter from Behrendorff and walked away in complete disgust.
Axar to rescue
Axar Patel (54 off 25) was Delhi Capitals’ saving grace with the bat and helped them reach 172. Had he not used the long handle to good effect, even 150 would have looked a distant reality for the home team.
Axar warmed up with a couple of sixes against Shokeen. He then smoked two boundaries in Green’s next over. Behrendorff also faced the assault. His off-cutter was dispatched over long-off. Next ball, Suryakumar dropped a catch, and parried the hit over the boundary. To add injury to insult, Surya was hit on the face, and left the field.
Axar raced away to a 22-ball fifty and reached the milestone in style, pummeling Riley Meredith for a six.
In the nineteenth over, Delhi lost four wickets. Behrendorff first ended Axar’s innings after the left-hander holed out to deep square leg, where Arshad took a good sliding catch. The Aussie left-arm seamer went on to dismiss Warner and Abhishek Porel, while an alert Nehal Wadehera ran out Kuldeep Yadav. Behrendorff also finished with 3/22 in his three overs.
Hopeless Delhi
Delhi have now lost four matches on the trot, and while it is still early days in the tournament, it will be surprising if this team, with the kind of Indian talent it has, managed to register even a couple of wins, let alone be a title contender.
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