IPL 2023: Rohit, bowlers power Mumbai Indians to 6-wicket win against Delhi Capitals in thriller
New Delhi: Jason Behrendorff and Piyush Chawla's three-wicket hauls followed by captain Rohit Sharma's half-century and Tilak Verma's 41 powered Mumbai Indians (MI) to a comprehensive 6-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians registered their first win of the ongoing IPL season in the thrilling match which went down to the last ball. Rohit scored the highest for MI with 65 of 45 while Tilak played a helping knock of 41 runs in 29 balls. For DC, Mukesh Kumar bagged two while Mustafizur Rahman scalped one wicket.
Chasing a total of 173, captain Rohit Sharma started Mumbai Indians' run chase with an aggressive approach as he slammed Mukesh Kumar for two fours and one six, gathering 14 runs in the first over.
Ishan Kishan then followed the captain's lead and hammered Mustafizur Rahman for back-to-back three fours in the second over. The duo brought up their 50-run partnership stand in the 5th over of the match. After 5 overs MI were at 59 runs without a loss.
However, confusion in the running between the wicket cost opener Kishan his wicket after playing a knock of 31 runs. Kishan returned to the pavilion after getting run out by Mukesh Kumar/Lalit Yadav.
Tilak Varma then came out to bat. In the 11th over of the game, Rohit took a single and brought his half-century, made in 29 balls. The batting pair of Tilak and Rohit were decisive in their approach and made the Delhi bowlers toil hard making merry of the excellent batting conditions on offer.
The Mumbai batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the Delhi bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer. Tilak opened his hands and smoked one four and two back-to-back sixes in the 16th over.
Mustafizur Rahman provided his team with a big breakthrough as he dismissed well-set batter Rohit for 65 in the 17th over of the game.
In the final 18 balls, MI needed 26 runs. After Rohit's departure, Cameron Green and Tim David handled the charge and guided their team home to a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in last over thriller.
Earlier, skipper David Warner's fifty and Axar Patel's blitz of 54 runs helped Delhi Capitals (DC) post a respected target as Mumbai Indians (MI) bowlers bundle out DC for 172 runs.
Axar scored the highest for DC with 54 off 25 while Warner played a knock of 51 runs in 47 balls. For MI, Jason Behrendorff and Piyush Chawla bagged three respectively while Riley Meredith claimed two wickets.
Put to bat first, Delhi Capitals got off to a fine start as their openers David Warner and Prithvi Shaw gathered 33 runs in 3 overs. However, the 43-run partnership could not stand long as Hrithik Shokeen drew first blood and dismissed Shaw for 15.
The right-handed batter Manish Pandey then came out to bat. Pandey slammed Riley Meredith for back-to-back two fours in the 5th over of the game.
Piyush Chawla then provided his team with a big wicket of Pandey. A fine cameo by Manish Pandey came to an end after scoring 26 off 18 deliveries. Yash Dhull departed after scoring just 2 runs on his IPL debut. It did not take long for Delhi to lose their fourth wicket as Rovman Powell was lbw by Chawla in the 11th over of the game.
At that point, Delhi kept losing wickets but captain Warner continued his red-hot form and slammed Mumbai bowlers all around the ground at regular intervals.
Axar Patel then opened his hands and hammered Hrithik Shokeen for back-to-back two sixes gathering 13 runs in the 15th over of the innings.
While playing an aggressive knock Warner brought up his crucial half-century in 43 balls in the 16th over of the game. Patel at the other end kept the momentum going with his big hits.
Patel slammed Jason Behrendorff for two sixes and brought up a 50-run partnership stand with Warner in the 17th over. Patel brought up his maiden IPL half-century with a six straight down the ground.
Behrendorff then gave Delhi big blows as he dismissed well-set batter Patel for 54 runs, Warner for 51 and Abishek Porel for 1.
In the penultimate over, Riley Meredith took the wicket of Anrich Nortje to bundle out Delhi Capitals for 172 in 19.4 overs.
Brief score: Delhi Capitals 172 (Axar Patel 54, David Warner 51; Jason Behrendorff 3-23) vs Mumbai Indians 173/4 (Rohit Sharma 65, Tilak Varma 41; Mukesh Kumar 2-30). (ANI)
