Delhi almost ensures top-2 spot with win over Mumbai
SHARJAH: Shreyas Iyer showed steely temperament while Ravichandran Ashwin compensated for his poor bowling effort with the final six as Delhi Capitals inched towards a top-two finish by beating Mumbai Indians by four wickets in an IPL match here on Saturday.
Chasing a modest 130 on a challenging Sharjah track, Delhi made a rough weather of the chase. But, Shreyas anchored the innings with a run-a-ball 33 not out (2 fours) and added a crucial unbroken 39-run stand with Ashwin (20 not out off 21 balls, 1 six) off 36 deliveries.
Needing just four runs from the last over, Ashwin sealed the chase with five balls to spare as he hit a six off left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya. The win took second-placed Delhi to 18 points from 12 games. This is the seventh loss in 12 matches for fivetime champion Mumbai, whose chances of qualifying for playoffs are fast fading away.
Defending a modest total, Mumbai had a cracking start sending Delhi’s top three – Shikhar Dhawan (8), Prithvi Shaw (6) and Steve Smith (9) – back to the hut inside the powerplay. Kieron Pollard’s direct hit from mid-on caught Dhawan short of his crease in the second over, while a superb review ensured that Shaw was dismissed in a space of four balls.
Smith looked in his zone and pulled Jasprit Bumrah for a six only to perish to his Australian teammate Nathan Coulter-Nile. Earlier on a day when Ashwin was off-colour, left-arm spinner
Axar Patel (3 for 21) dismissed Quinton de Kock (19), Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Saurabh Tiwary (15), ensuring that runs were hard to come by.
Uncapped Indian pacer Avesh Khan (3 for 15) continued his dream run in the IPL and set the tone for Capitals, hurrying Rohit Sharma with sheer pace.
I think that I am varying my pace well. I am also able to read the mind of the batters. Things are going well for me at the moment
Axar Patel, Man of the match
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 129/8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 33, A Khan 3/15, A Patel 3/21) lost to Delhi Capitals 132/6 in 19.1 overs (S Iyer 33*)