DC vs MI in 50 Words

Hitman and SKY threatened to take the game away before Mishra’s 4-fer proved why his spot among IPL’s legends can never be taken for granted. Shikhar’s run of form continued and Smith and Hettie played supporting roles to take DC home against MI for the first time since IPL 2019.


Mishi Bhai Ke Kya Kehne?

Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma, nicknamed Spider-Man and Hitman, two superheroes of Indian cricket in their own right, met at the toss not as rivals but as friends as they teased and smiled their way back to their dugouts. Rohit had won the toss and unsurprisingly opted to bat first at the Chepauk.

 



We went into the game with two changes. Amit Mishra walked back into the side on a turner in Chennai while Hetmyer took Woakes’ spot. The match began with a surprise of sorts, as Marcus Stoinis took the brand new white Kookaburra. He started right on the money, giving away just six runs and troubling Rohit with an in-dipper and a vociferous appeal that was turned down.

Ashwin took the new ball from the other end and bowled another quiet over. As the pressure was building, the Incredible Stoin got rid of the dangerous de Kock caught behind and then subtly flexed his biceps while celebrating. Because why not?

 



The rest of the powerplay belonged to Rohit and SKY though, as the duo scored two boundaries and a six off Ashwin’s over before handing out similar treatment to Rabada. At 67/1 in 6.5 overs, it looked like Rohit and Surya would run away with the game. Thankfully, the Indore Express cut the partnership short at 58 with the prized wicket of Surya.

One over later, the magician Amit Mishra struck twice in the same over to remove Rohit for 44 and Hardik Pandya for a duck. DC bowlers had wrung back the momentum in our favour in spectacular fashion, but they weren’t done yet.

 



With two left-handers, Ishan Kishan and Krunal Pandya out in the middle at 77/4, Pant recalled Lalit Yadav into the attack. The rookie repaid the skipper’s faith with the wicket of Krunal Pandya, his first in the IPL.

 



Mishi bhai continued on his merry way, trapping Pollard right in front of the stumps for just 2 and saving a significant amount of runs to be chased back. From 67/1 for at 6.5 to 84/6 at 11.5, the DC bowlers dominated the middle-overs phase to put the Mumbai Indians on the back foot.

 



Ishan Kishan and Jayant Yadav got into damage control mode and consolidated, putting away the odd boundary at intervals. Just as Ishan Kishan threatened to cut loose, the man of the hour Amit Mishra struck for the fourth time to send him back to the pavilion. Rabada struck in the 19th, Avesh struck in 20th and just didn’t allow the MI tail to score many quick runs at the end.

If someone had given DC the option to start the chase against the defending champions with MI’s score reading 137/9 at the end of their 20 overs, they’d have taken that both hands and thanked the Lord above for the generosity.


The Capitals Come Through in Tense Finish

We weren’t short of drama in the very first over of the chase. Shikhar Drawan played a cracking cut shot well over point’s head and sent it racing to the boundary off the very first ball he faced. Safe to say he’d carried his confidence from the previous knock. However, on the final ball of the first over, a leading edge went into the hands of a diving Hardik Pandya at cover, only for the celebrations to be cut short as the replays showed the ball touching the grass.

More drama ensued, as Shaw lost his wicket cheaply to Jayant Yadav, a man MI had brought in as their horse for this particular course. Dhawan continued to milk the boundaries though, and Smith joined him too with a couple of trademark boundaries of his own to the scoreboard moving. The experienced pair took DC to 39/1 at the end of the powerplay.

 



Smudge took a liking to Krunal Pandya’s left-arm orthodox, and scored two quick fours before the stand-in captain, Pollard, decided to bring himself on. The move paid dividends, as Smith was trapped plumb in front for a well-made 33.

In another surprise move, Lalit Yadav was promoted up the order and took the number 4 spot. The Dilli duo got to work. Dhawan cut Chahar and pulled Bumrah with authority, he wasn’t letting any opportunity go by. With 6 overs to go and 48 runs to get, Dhawan unleashed himself once more, pumping Chahar over mid-wicket for a maximum and pulling him for four. Against the run of play, he lost his wicket in the same over after a brilliant 45.

 



Pant got himself going with a swat on the leg side that went to the ropes. But, nerves creeped into fans the moment Pant top edged a pull to fine leg. With 21 needed from 16, Hetmyer timed a drive perfectly to find the ropes on his first ball. Well, that eased some pressure. But the rate of our heartbeats was proof that there was still a lot of pressure left with 15 to get from two overs against a team like Mumbai.

 



Spoiler Alert: Hetmyer and Lalit got the job done. The no-balls from Bumrah helped though. With the other pace options exhausted, Pollard took the responsibility to bowl the final over only to be put away for four off the first ball and to finish the game off with a no-ball for height.

After four winless games against the defending champions last season, DC had beaten MI in a tight game at a neutral venue. This Is New Delhi, indeed!

 




Brief Scores

Mumbai Indians 137-9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 44 off 30, Ishan Kishan 26 off 28, Amit Mishra 4-24, Avesh Khan 2-15); Delhi Capitals 138-4 in 19.1 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 45 off 42, Steve Smith 33 off 29, Kieron Pollard 1-9, Jayant Yadav 1-25)