Amit Mishra, the old warhorse spun a web around Mumbai Indian’s batting order. The wily old spinner picked up 4 wickets from his 4 overs, giving away just 24 runs. Mumbai Indians are one of the favorites to win the VIVO IPL 2011, but Delhi Capitals had a perfect plan in order for their batting line-up.
Rohit the Hitman Sharma got going right from the start. Smashing sixes and boundaries at will, the MI skipper looked in perfect control of the situation. However, things were not so good at the other end. First de Kock and then after brief support from Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, none of the batsmen looked to make any runs.
Just to describe the sorry state of the MI line-up, 5 batsmen scored in single digits. This included the likes of the Pandya brothers whose performances on the field are not matching up to their performances on social media.
Jayant Yadav towards the end of the innings was able to get the team to a decent score scoring a run-off-ball 23. Mumbai eventually ending their quota off 20 overs scoring 137 runs.
The Delhi Capitals bowling line-up fared well. Mishra, Yadav, Rabada, Stoinis, and Ashwin were all economical on a slow Chepauk pitch. Rohit Sharma’s brave decision to win the toss did not pay off as well as the last time around.
With just 138 runs to get, DC started off slow and rightly so. However, Shaw got out early, scoring just 7 runs off 5 runs. Dhawan and Steve Smith were at their uncharacteristic best. Maybe this was the right match for Smith to get his eye in and establish a solid foundation for the rest of the tournament. DC reached 50 in 8 overs.
That’s that from Match 13 of #VIVOIPL as @DelhiCapitals win by 6 wickets to register their third win of the season.
Scorecard – https://t.co/XxDr4f4nPU #DCvMI pic.twitter.com/g3bqYZTl6f
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 20, 2021
Smith eventually got out LBW to Pollard after scoring 33 runs off 29 balls with 4 fours. The Australian still acclimatizing himself to the Indian slow conditions. Dhawan tried to get a move on after Smith departed and scored some wonderful boundaries including a big one. However, he held out to a Rahul Chahar delivery and was caught by Krunal Pandya for 45.
However, it looked as though there would be a final twist in the tail. When Bumrah got Pant out, DC required 22 off the last 3 overs. Could MI turn it around as they have already done in the VIVO IPL 2021? With DC needing 15 off the last 2 overs, Rohit Sharma handed over the ball to the world’s best death over in the world, Bumrah.
The pacer started abnormally by his standards giving away a no-ball and a free hit off the first ball. Another no-ball on the 4th ball ensured that DC walked away with 10 runs without taking much risk of the Bumrah over. With two West Indians facing off against one another in the last over (Hetmyer versus Pollard), the task in front of DC looked easy. Hetmyer smashed a four off the first ball and then Pollard gave away a no-ball to ensure DC won the match and reached the target of 138.
With the victory, Delhi Capitals rightly claim the first position on the points table of the VIVO IPL 2021. What is more, they displaced MI. Pant showing strong signs of maturity with Ponting playing the role of the masterful strategist behind the scenes.
VIVO IPL 2021 is DC’s for the taking. They look like the strongest side in the tournament.
