Delhi Capitals continued their form against Mumbai Indians after chasing down a target of 130 runs by 4 wickets in Sharjah on Saturday. The Capitals had a struggling start to the chase after they lost openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvis Shaw at a team score of 15. The Delhi side kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 93/6 before R Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer joined hands and provided the much-needed resistance.
The two batsmen stitched a partnership of 39 runs for the seventh wicket and took the team over the line. Nathan Coulter-Nile was the pick of the bowlers for MI after he returned with figures of 1/19 in 4 overs.
Earlier, in the day, MI once again struggled with the bat and had a dismal start to the proceedings after losing skipper Rohit Sharma for 7. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 111/7 to eventually get restricted to 129/8 in 20 overs. Suryakumar Yadav top-scored for Mumbai with 26-ball 33.
DC pacer Avesh Khan rattled the MI batting unit and scalped a three-wicket haul for his side at the cost of 15 runs in 4 overs. Apart from Avesh, spinner Axar Patel was also among wickets as the left-hander returned with figures of 3/21 in 4 overs.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma put the onus on batting for a disappointing show against DC.
“We didn't bat well, we didn't create those partnerships, we always knew that it wasn't a 170-180 wicket, we knew 140 is a par score here. We just couldn't get the partnerships going. If your batters are not going to put runs on the board, it's going to be difficult to win games consistently,” he said during the post-match presentation.
Experts’ Opinion
Former India player Yuvraj Singh lavished praise on Shreyas Iyer for his “mature” knock. “Sometimes you have to play the situation than the expectation! Well played Shreyas Iyer mature knock,” Yuvraj tweeted.
Journalist Ayaz Memon lauded Iyer and R Ashwin for a responsible and unbeaten stand that helped the side to win the match. “Sensible, clever, excellent partnership between Iyer and Ashwin takes DC home in a tense match. Rohit tried every gambit to defend modest score and almost succeeded till these two played with control and cunning to take DC home. Big setback for MI in quest for place in play off,” he wrote on Twitter.
Commentator Harsha Bhogle hailed DC after the win. “Whatever the conditions, Delhi Capitals seem to have the right players. That auction three years ago was one of their finest hours,” he said.
DC will now play CSK on Monday in Dubai while MI will be up against RR on Tuesday in Sharjah.