APRIL 18, 2019
Brief Scorecard: Mumbai Indians 168 for 5 (Krunal 37*, de Kock 35, Rabada 2-38) beat Delhi Capitals 128 for 9 (Dhawan 35, Rahul 3-19, Bumrah 2-18) by 40 runs
DELHI – Hardik Pandya monstered 32 off 15 balls, Krunal Pandya struck 37 not out off 27, and together the two put on a fifth-wicket partnership worth 54 off 26, which became the centrepiece of Mumbai Indians’ 40-run victory.
Mumbai Indians were 104 for 4 after 15.1 overs, heading towards a par-score in the range of 150 on a slow Feroz Shah Kotla surface when the brothers united. Although they took a little time to get into the slog mode, they exploded from the end of the 17th over – Mumbai reaping 54 runs off the last 19 balls of the innings.
The in-form Hardik produced the more blistering innings, walloping his eighth ball for a six way over long-off, whipping his 12th ball into the long-leg boundary, eventually finishing up with three sixes and two fours in his innings. Krunal had been slow to start, hitting only 17 off his first 18 deliveries, but he found the boundary four times off the last eight balls he faced to assist in the furious finish that Hardik spearheaded.
Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan began the chase well, hitting 48 in the Powerplay, but Delhi Capitals soon lost their way. Shaw, Dhawan, Colin Munro and captain Shreyas Iyer all lost their wickets in quick succession, sliding to 63 for 4 after 10.2 overs, the required rate creeping up towards 11. None of the Capitals’ middle-order batsmen could launch a serious challenge to Mumbai’s score, and after losing regular wickets, the team eventually mustered only 128 for 9 in response to Mumbai’s 168 for 5.
Rahul Chahar’s super spell
His first over – the second of the innings – went for ten runs, but Chahar came back after the Powerplay to deliver the spell that sunk Capitals’ chase. Dhawan and Shaw had laid a half-decent foundation, making 48 off the first six overs, before Chahar beat Dhawan’s reverse sweep, and ended up bowling him off his pads. That over cost only four runs, but the next Chahar over would prove to be even more fruitful. The required rate now having climbed to well over nine, Shaw came down the track to try and slam Chahah over long-on but only ended up being caught. Later – after Krunal Pandya had dismissed Colin Munro in the intervening over – Chahar bowled perhaps the delivery of the match to dismiss Shreyas Iyer, drifting his legbreak through the air, pitching it on middle and leg, then getting it to spit away sharply to beat Iyer’s push and collect his off stump. His second, three-over spell had seen him claim three wickets for nine runs.
Delhi’s Kotla woes
Capitals’ coaches have already complained this season that the Kotla surface has favoured spinners more than they would like, but four games in, perhaps it is the Capitals outfit that needs to adapt. Where Mumbai’s bowlers relished taking pace off the ball, Capitals perhaps underbowled their spinners, Amit Mishra only delivering three overs, despite having bowled Rohit Sharma with a sharp legbreak early in the game.
Capitals have now lost three of their four home matches this season. Their only win at the Kotla came via a Super Over.
Mumbai’s supporting hands
The Pandya brothers’ final explosion was perhaps the definitive partnership of the game, but Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock also made substantial contributions to the eventual total, adding 57 off 37 balls for the first wicket. De Kock looked set for a big innings too, before he was needlessly run out by Suryakumar Yadav.
And while Chahar made the best bowling contribution for Mumbai, Jasprit Bumrah also put in another outstanding performance, seaming the ball early on, and hitting his yorkers beautifully on his way to a bowling analysis of 2 for 18 from four overs. Bumrah also effected the run out of Keemo Paul, throwing down the stumps at the non-striker’s end, after collecting the ball following a delivery.
Courtesy/Source: ESPNCricinfo
