MUMBAI FLEX MUSCLE
Shepherd, David and Bumrah help former champions register first win
Mumbai, India - Having lost the first three games, Mumbai Indians finally opened their account in IPL 2024 as they beat Delhi Capitals by 29 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai.
After being sent in, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan gave Mumbai a start of 80 in seven overs. Capitals staged a comeback in the middle overs but Tim David (45* off 21) and Romario Shepherd (39* off 10) muscled 96 in the last five overs - Shepherd hit Anrich Nortje for 32 in the 20th - to lift Mumbai to a daunting 234 for 5.
Prithvi Shaw kept Capitals in the contest with 66 off 40 balls. After he got out, Tristan Stubbs took over and ransacked an unbeaten 71 off 25 balls.
But Capitals fell short by 29 runs. Given a flat pitch and small boundaries at the Wankhede, Mumbai knew they needed to score big, and Rohit and Kishan laid the perfect foundation.
Kishan started by hitting Khaleel Ahmed for three fours in the seamer’s first two overs. From the other end, Rohit hit Ishant
Sharma for two successive fours. He took it a notch higher against Jhye Richardson by launching him for two back-to-back sixes.
Seeing the fast bowlers leaking runs, Rishabh Pant turned to his spinners. But Rohit was into overdrive by now.
In the next nine balls, he hit four fours and a six against Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav. At the end of six overs, he had moved to 49 off 23 balls and Mumbai to 75 for no loss.
Once the field restrictions were relaxed, Capitals staged a comeback with Axar dismissing Rohit. On the last ball of the seventh over, Rohit stepped out of his crease but Axar bowled it short and fast to beat the batter and rattle his stumps.
In the next over, Nortje spoiled Suryakumar Yadav’s return. Nortje welcomed him to the crease with a searing yorker before having him caught at mid-on for a two-ball duck.
Thanks to their quick start, Mumbai reached 100 in the tenth over before Axar hurt them again. Having hit a six off the previous ball, Ishan Kishan smashed the next to the left of Axar who stretched out his hand to pull off a stunning return catch.
With Hardik Pandya taking his time - he was on 19 off 20 balls at one point - Mumbai could manage only 63 runs in the seven overs after the powerplay.
TODAYS MATCH
MATCH 22
6 PM