A blockbuster batting effort, led by Jake Fraser-McGurk (84 off 27), helped Delhi Capitals notch their second-consecutive win as they beat Mumbai Indians by 10 runs in another tightly-contested high-scoring match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Fraser-McGurk set the tone with a fearless knock after being asked to bat first. Shai Hope (41 off 17), Rishabh Pant (29 off 19) and Tristan Stubbs (48* off 25), kept the momentum going and put on an exhibition of powerful and creative strokepley to propel DC to a mammoth 257/4. Rasikh Salam then bowled a crucial spell of 3/34 as the home side survived a scare and crossed the finish line.
Defending 258, DC struck crucial blows, dismissing the MI top-order inside the Powerplay. Khaleel Ahmed provied a huge breakthrough as he had Rohit Sharma caught at mid off in the fourth over. Mukesh Kumar struck off his first ball, dismissing Ishan Kishan in a similar manner.
Suryakumar arrived as an Impact Player and counter-attacked straightaway, cracking his typical whipped six off the first ball. He was looking ominous and took on Khaleel in the sixth over, hitting a six and a four. But the clever pacer bounced back strongly, having Suryakumar Yadav caught at cover off a slower one that stopped on the batter. MI reached 65/3 at the end of the Powerplay.
.@DelhiCapitals bowlers backing their batters ?#MI lose their top 3 inside the powerplay for 65
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Things slowed down a bit before Hardik Pandya took the attack to Kuldeep Yadav, thumping three fours and a six in the 9th over. DC then introduced Rasikh Salam as their Impact Player in place of Kumar Kushagra. Pandya and Tilak Varma kept the tempo going with a 71-run stand off 39, but the Impressive Rasikh Salam, who had given away just five in his first over, turned it around with two wickets in an over. He outfoxed Pandya (46 off 24) with a slower one and then had Nehal Wadhera caught behind two balls later to dent MI.
Impact x 2️⃣
Impact player Rasikh Salam is rewarded for his impressive bowling ?
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With the required rate rising, Tilak Varma and Tim David continued MI’s fight. Varma cracked two sixes and two fours off Kuldeep to take 21 off the 15th over. He brought up his 50 off just 25 balls as the equation came to 71 needed off 24. Rasikh came back to bowl another excellent over and gave away just seven in the 17th over as the required rate went over 21.
David started off the next over well, clobbering a couple of sixes and a four off the first three balls of Mukesh Kumar, but the bowler bounced back off the next ball, trapping David LBW to provide another vital moment in the match. Varma, though, kept his fight on and thumped a six off the last ball of the over to make it a 23-run over. It brought the equation down to 41 needed off 12.
After a dot, first ball, from Rasikh, Nabi powered a straight six off the second ball of the penultimate over. The DC pacer, however, made a strong comeback, dismissing Nabi off the next ball. Chawla walked in and smacked the first ball for a six as MI took 16 off the over. It was still a decent over for DC given the situation of the game.
Mukesh was entrusted with the responsibility of defending 25 off the last over. He started off with a slower one which Tilak mistimed to the leg side. He set off for a risky second and was run out for 63 (32). It was another big moment in the match. Debutant Luke Wood walked in and he too mistimed his heave off the first ball. Fraser-McGurk came charging in from the deep but couldn’t hold on to a tough low chance as the batters scampered for a couple. Wood followed it up with a thumping six. With 16 needed off three, Mukesh came back well and restricted Wood to just a single off the next. With 15 needed off two balls, Chawla cracked a four and then holed out next ball as DC won by 10 runs.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to field.
Delhi Capitals got off to a blistering start as Jake Fraser-McGurk went on a rampage straightaway in the first over, smashing three fours and a six off IPL debutant Luke Wood. He then took on Jasprit Bumrah in the next over and cracked two fours and a six to make it 37 off the first two overs.
The boundary-hitting juggernaut continued as Abishek Porel and Fraser-McGurk hit four fours off Nuwan Tushara and then Fraser-McGurk got to his fifty in style, off 15 balls, hammering a six off Chawla in the next over. He equaled his record for the fastest IPL fifty of the season. Hardik Pandya then arrived to bowl, and he got the same treatment as the others as Fraser-McGurk took 20 off the over. Bumrah finally brought some relief for MI in the final over of the Powerplay, giving away just three runs, as DC reached 92/0 in the first six overs. Porel played sensibly and gave Fraser-McGurk as much strike as possible. He was 11 off 13 balls while Fraser-McGurk was 78 off 24 in the Powerplay.
.@delhicapitals‘ Flying Powerplay ?
Fraser-McGurk increases the temperature with some explosive stroke play ?
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The openers brought up the 100 in the seventh over as they took down Pandya again, hitting him for 21 runs. If there was someone who could have stopped the carnage, it was the experienced Chawla. And the IPL veteran broke the 114-run opening stand in the 8th over, having the rampant Fraser-McGurk 84(27) caught at deep mid-wicket.
MI made a mini-comeback as Mohammad Nabi had Abishek Porel (36 off 27) stumped two overs late. Shai Hope then picked up the scoring, hitting five sixes in the next four overs before Luke Wood bounced back hard to dismiss him in the 14th over after being hit for two sixes earlier in the over. Hope played a handy cameo of 41(17). In between, Rishabh Pant too unleashed a four and a helicopter six off Tushara.
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Tristan Stubbs displaying his range of shots with a 2️⃣6️⃣-run over ?
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Pant and Tristan Stubbs then took over the mantle, hitting 55 runs off 27 balls with Stubbs putting on an exhibition in scooping, hitting three fours and a six, via traditional and reverse scoops off Wood before thumping two more fours in the over to make it 26 runs off the 18th over.
Swoosh ?
2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ up for @DelhiCapitals with skipper Rishabh Pant in that kind of form ?
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Pant departed for a brisk 29 off 19 in the penultimate over. Stubbs though carried on the good work and powered DC to 257/4, remaining unbeaten on 48 off 25 balls. Axar Patel was not out on 11 off 6.