Mumbai Indians Secure Final-Ball Victory Against Delhi Capitals in IPL Thriller

In a thrilling match in the Indian Premier League, Tim David and Cameron Green held their collective nerves to pull off a final-ball victory for Mumbai Indians against Delhi Capitals.[expander_maker id=”1″ ] The hosts, who were bowled out for 172, looked to be in trouble when Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma were at the crease, but they tried to claw their way back in the death overs. They nearly succeeded, until Green and David came together to take their side over the line in the nick of time.

Mumbai Indians were cruising in the chase as Rohit Sharma shrugged off his batting lethargy and tonked his way to a 29-ball half-century. He and Tilak Varma retained control of the proceedings until a dramatic 16th over from Mukesh Kumar. The pressure and the asking rate had cranked up on MI in the lead-up to this over as Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, and Mustafizur conceded 4, 5, and 2 in their overs. Tilak aimed to break the shackles and got two sixes off Mukesh, but fell while attempting a third. MI was rocked further when Suryakumar Yadav hit the first ball he faced straight to Kuldeep Yadav at fine leg.

When Mustafizur had Rohit caught behind in the following over, Delhi Capitals suddenly had the upper hand. With 26 needed off 18 balls, Anrich Nortje bowled an exceptional over at Tim David and Cameron Green, conceding just six off it. Yet he was left with just five to defend in the final over as Mustafizur was carted for two big sixes in the penultimate over by the batting duo. Nortje still dragged it to the final delivery by executing his yorkers perfectly, but with two runs to get off the final ball, the MI pair managed to take their team through.

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan found the touch and timing that has eluded them this season as they took a toll on DC’s PowerPlay bowlers. Even the seasoned Anrich Nortje was not spared as he went for 15 runs in the third over, after Mukesh Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman had conceded 27 in the first two. David Warner tried to go the Rohit Sharma way by bringing on his spinner, Lalit Yadav, in the fourth over but couldn’t replicate the results from the first innings. Axar Patel, into the action in the following over, was hit for a four each by the two openers. By the end of the PowerPlay, Rohit had raced away to 37* (17), and Kishan smashed 30* (19) as MI reached 68/0.

Ishan Kishan’s wicket came against the run of play because of a miscommunication between him and Rohit. The left-hander walked off for 31 off 26, but out came Tilak to forge a strong, match-defining stand for the second wicket with his captain. The two added 68 runs before Tilak’s dismissal paved the way for a stirring finish to the fixture.

In the first innings, Delhi Capitals had a fluent(ish) start as David Warner and Prithvi Shaw showed signs of improvement. Shaw, in particular, middled a couple of drives before Rohit Sharma brought on offspinner Hritik Shoukeen into the attack in the fourth over. Shaw welcomed him with another exquisite drive but was soon sucked into poor shot selection in the same over when he slog swept one to Cameron Green at square leg.

Manish Pandey kept up the fluency as he hit one down the ground and then had a stroke of luck as an inside edge ran down to the fine leg fence in an over from Rilee Meredith. For the first time in four games, DC lost less than two wickets in the PowerPlay, ending it with the score at 51/1.

Just as Warner and Pandey were plotting DC’s recovery, the MI leggie Piyush Chawla stopped them in their tracks and then spun a web around the middle-order. Pandey was lured with a tossed-up delivery outside off, which he hit straight to Behrendorff at long off. Chawla then got Rovman Powell and Lalit Yadav with two googlies, while Rilee Meredith took out debutant Yash Dhull with a change of pace to leave DC reeling at 98 for 5 in the 13th over. Once again, Warner was stranded at the other end, watching batters come and go while his own timing wasn’t up to the standard.

From 98 for 5, Delhi Capitals were resurrected by some stunning hitting from Axar Patel, who smashed a 25-ball 54 with four fours and five sixes. Axar tonked two sixes in Shoukeen’s final over and went after Cameron Green and Behrendorf before bringing up his maiden IPL half-century off just 22 deliveries in the 18th over. Warner got his half-century too, albeit at a much slower rate, but DC were now set for a late flourish. Or so they’d have hoped.

DC suffered an incredible collapse as they went from 165 for 5 in 18 overs to 172 all out in 19.4. Axar’s dismissal on the first ball of the 19th over triggered a procession from the lower-order as four wickets fell in that same over, including the run out of Kuldeep Yadav. Meredith wrapped up the innings in the final over, restricting DC to 172.

The win saw Mumbai Indians climb to fifth in the table, while Delhi Capitals remain in second place. Delhi Capitals head down south to Bangalore, where they take on RCB on Saturday while Mumbai Indians have a four-day break before welcoming Kolkata Knight Riders to their home venue on Sunday.[/expander_maker]