Rohit Sharma was on his way to his first half-century in 25 innings. It was before the Mumbai Indians overcame tense moments to secure an overall victory over Delhi here on Tuesday.
David Warner struggled 51-47 before Axar Patel again showed his vastly improved batting skills with an impressive 54-25, taking the Delhi Capitals to a competitive 172 after the hosts were bowled by the Mumbai Indians.
With a drier game than in the opener here and players enjoying ample support, the Mumbai Indians had their hands full, but Rohit’s gracious 65 for 45 handed his side their first win of the season.
With Cameron Green (17-of-8) and Tim David (13-of-11) at the center, Mumbai needed five points from the last overtime but Anrich Nortje put the ball brilliantly and finished the match down to the last ball. David scored the required two from the last ball to earn a much-needed one.
The in-form Tilak Varma, who moved into third place, grabbed a crucial 41 of 29 rebounds and continued his streak of 68 points under captain Rohit. It was a much-needed victory for Mumbai after back-to-back defeats, while the season was poor for Delhi as they suffered a fourth defeat in as many games.
One shot, in particular, was in sight when Rohit charged at the eternal Mukesh Kumar in the first inning, only to knock him out with a mid-goal six.
There is no better sniper than Rohit, which was fully demonstrated in Shah Kotla’s Fierce. His second six was even better when he took Anrich Nortje off the forefoot for the long term.
Delhi managed to stem the tide amid reshuffles with spinners Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel before
Nervousness grew in the Mumbai dressing room as Rohit met a brilliant play from young goalkeeper Abhishek Porel, who rushed into the net from the right and sensationally grabbed Mustafizur Rahman with one hand. Read More: RCB Skipper Faf du Plessis fined for slow over rate, Avesh Khan cautioned
However, the superb Australian pairing of David and Green brought their team over the edge. Veteran Piyush Chawla, who had an IPL record after not being traded last year, proved he still has great ability with a three-goal game for Mumbai Indians.
Prithvi Shaw, who struggled in the first three games, hit much-publicized boundaries with her 15-10 balls before collapsing from Hrithik Shokeen’s spinner. number three Manish Pandey (26-for-18) used his feet heavily against the spinners but also tripped him. Yash Dhull, who made his IPL debut after warming up on the bench last season, was only able to make four saves.
When Chawla caught Rovman Powell with a googly, Delhi was for 86-under-4. However, Axar joined Warner in trouble down the middle and single-handedly changed the tempo of Delhi’s innings. Axar is the Indian team’s most improved batsman in the last 12 months. He made his intentions clear with a straight six down the left flank against a Shokeen.
Two overs later, it’s Jason Behrendorff turn to call the shots, and it’s at the end of the Axar attack. After being kicked with a 6-over-long-on, Axar aimed for the same spot again and got lucky as Suryakumar Yadav missed his catch completely and was hit in the eye as the ball went up. As expected, Surya was eliminated after this bad move.
Axar’s fifth and final six was the best of them all as he dropped Meredith at the head of the latter to bring back his half-century. Mumbai finished his batting average with four wickets in Behrendorff 19th match to finish three for 23 in four overs.
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