Sharjah: Delhi Capitals defeated Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets in a low-scoring thriller to seal their place in the play-offs of the Indian Premier League(IPL) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.The game had everything for the bowlers while the batters had to dig deep to make their outing easier in the sunny afternoon in Sharjah.Mumbai after asked to bat managed just 129 before Delhi had to scratch hard chasing it down with five balls to spare.
Rishabh Pant’s decision to bowl first was right on the money as his bowlers did wonders for him. Mumbai had a horrendous outing as barring Suryakumar Yadav(33),none were able to reach even 20’s. Youngster Avesh Khan(3/15) and spinner Axar Patel(3/21) bamboozled the formidable MI batting line up packing them home cheaply one after another. At one stage it looked like Mumbai would not even get past 100 run mark. However, The Pandya brothers – Hardik(18) and Krunal(13) alongside Jayanth Yadav(11) played crucial cameos sending Mumbai to a some sort of respectable total.
Delhi too,chasing 130 tasted their own medicine as their top order collapsed like pack of cards inside the powerplay overs with Shikhar Dhawan,Prithvi Shaw and Steve Smith being unable get into double digits. Skipper Rishabh Pant(26) alongside Shreyas Iyer(33) were the only warriors managing to hold the game for the Capitals. MI’s bowlers collectively gave a spirited fight doing exceptionally well to strech the game to the wire especially Nathan Coulter Nile (1/19), Trent Boult(1/24) and Jasprit Bumrah(1/29). However, Iyer and Ashwin(20) managed to keep their composure till the end to get to game over the line with the later hitting it for a maximum off the first of the penultimate over.
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 132/6 in 19.1 overs( Shreyas Iyer 33, Rishabh Pant 26; Nathan Coulter Nile 1/19, Trent Boult 1/24) beat Mumbai Indians 129/8(Suryakumar Yadav 33 , Quinton de Kock 19; Avesh Khan 3/15, Axar Patel 3/21) by wickets.
