Mumbai Indians 234 for five (Rohit 49, David 45*, Kishan 42, Axar 2-35) beat Delhi Capitals 205 for 8 (Stubbs 71*, Shaw 66, Coetzee 4-34) by 29 runs
Having misplaced the first three video games, Mumbai Indians lastly opened their account in IPL 2024 as they beat Delhi Capitals by 29 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai.
Rohit provides Mumbai a blazing begin
Given a flat pitch and small boundaries at the Wankhede, Mumbai knew they wanted to attain massive, and Rohit and Kishan laid the excellent basis.
Kishan began by hitting Khaleel Ahmed for 3 fours in the seamer’s first two overs. From the different finish, Rohit hit Ishant Sharma for 2 successive fours. He took it a notch larger in opposition to Jhye Richardson by launching him for 2 back-to-back sixes.
Seeing the quick bowlers leaking runs, Rishabh Pant turned to his spinners. However Rohit was into overdrive by now. In the subsequent 9 balls, he hit 4 fours and a six in opposition to Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav. At the finish of six overs, he had moved to 49 off 23 balls and Mumbai to 75 for no loss.
Capitals pull it again
As soon as the discipline restrictions have been relaxed, Capitals staged a comeback with Axar dismissing Rohit. On the final ball of the seventh over, Rohit stepped out of his crease however Axar bowled it brief and quick to beat the batter and rattle his stumps.
In the subsequent over, Nortje spoiled Suryakumar Yadav’s return. Nortje welcomed him to the crease with a searing yorker earlier than having him caught at mid-on for a two-ball duck.
Due to their fast begin, Mumbai reached 100 in the tenth over earlier than Axar damage them once more. Having hit a six off the earlier ball, Ishan Kishan smashed the subsequent to the left of Axar who stretched out his hand to drag off a surprising return catch.
With Hardik Pandya taking his time – he was on 19 off 20 balls at one level – Mumbai might handle solely 63 runs in the 9 overs after the powerplay.
The David-Shepherd present
Mumbai have been 138 for 4 after 15 overs. At that stage, Capitals will need to have harboured hopes of limiting them to beneath 200. David and Shepherd, although, had different plans.
David began the sixteenth over by smashing Richardson for a six. In the subsequent two overs, he hit two extra sixes and Hardik additionally chipped in with one however it was Shepherd who made the greater dent. In the twentieth over, he bludgeoned Nortje for 4, 6, 6, 6, 4, 6 to crush Capitals’ morale.
Shaw retains Capitals’ hopes alive
Shepherd was not finished hurting Capitals. In the fourth over, he had David Warner holing out to mid-on with a large slower ball.
Shaw was gradual to start out. After 4 overs, he was on 13 off 15 however quickly discovered his vary. In the eighth over, he hit Piyush Chawla for six, 4, 4 off successive deliveries. With a pulled 4 off Gerald Coetzee, he introduced up his half-century, off 31 balls.
Together with Abishek Porel, Shaw took Capitals previous 100 in the eleventh over however Bumrah ended his innings on 66 by uprooting the leg stump with a searing yorker.
Stubbs’ blitz goes in useless
Stubbs wasted no time to get going. Going through his third ball, he heaved Chawla over deep midwicket for a six and repeated the dose three balls later. Bumrah dismissed Porel for 41 off 31, and Pant fell cheaply, however Stubbs saved going.
He hit Akash Madhwal for 2 fours and a six on the first three balls of the seventeenth over and introduced up his half-century – his second in two video games – off simply 19 balls.
His hitting meant Capitals reached 172 for 4 after 17 overs, 5 runs forward of Mumbai at the similar stage. However Bumrah conceded solely eight in the subsequent to make it 55 wanted from two overs.
Stubbs hit two sixes off Shepherd at the begin of the nineteenth and ended it with one other six. However with little assist from the different finish, Capitals have been left needing 34 from six balls. Coetzee conceded solely 4 and additionally picked up three wickets as Stubbs obtained caught at the non-striker’s finish.
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
