Mumbai beats Delhi in IPL

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Oct 12, (AP): Mumbai Indians won the battle at the top of the Indian Premier League as the defending champions beat Delhi Capitals by five wickets with two balls to spare as Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock struck half centuries in Mumbai’s run chase before both went for 53.

Mumbai reached 166-5 in 19.4 overs in reply to Delhi’s 162-4 which came on the back of Shikhar Dhawan’s 69 not out in his first half century of the season and captain Shreyas Iyer laboring to 42 off 33 balls. Spinner Krunal Pandya played a vital role in restricting Delhi by finishing with 2-26.

Leaders Mumbai and Delhi still occupy the top two places at the halfway mark in the league stage with 10 points each from seven games.

“The kind of cricket we are playing gives us confidence going forward,” Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma said. “Really pleased how we have played in the first half of the tournament. Perfect day for us, we did everything right today. We bowled really well, then clinical with the bat.”

De Kock smashed three sixes and four boundaries before topedging against Ravichandran Ashwin (1-35) in the 10th over.

Yadav hit six fours and a six before attempting an ambitious shot off fast bowler Kagiso Rabada (228) in the 15th over to hole out in the deep, but by that time the match was in Mumbai’s control at 130-3.

“We were 10-15 short, 175 would have looked completely different,” Delhi skipper Iyer said. “We need to work on our mindset next game ... I feel it is important for us to not take anything lightly.”