Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
On Sunday, April 7, Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals by 29 runs in the 20th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The key difference makers for MI in registering their first win of the IPL 2024 season were the likes of Tim David, Romario Shepherd, and Jasprit Bumrah.
After winning the toss, Rishabh Pant, the captain of Delhi Capitals, decided to field first, but the Mumbai Indians openers put their bowlers to the sword in the powerplay stage. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan scored quick-fire 40s before Axar Patel picked up their wickets to keep DC in the contest.
In the midst of their dismissals, Suryakumar Yadav, who returned to competitive action in months, lost his wicket without troubling scorers. Shortly after, the in-form Tilak Varma was back in the pavilion early, putting Mumbai Indians under some pressure.
Although, an innings of 39 off 33 from the Mumbai Indians captain, Hardik Pandya, followed by the impressive cameos from Tim David and Romario Shepherd, propelled them to a massive score of 234/5 in their allotted overs.
The run chase from Delhi Capitals didn’t begin well when Romario Shepherd picked up the vital wicket of David Warner for just 10 runs. Abhisek Porel joined Prithvi Shaw in the middle, and the youngsters shared an enterprising partnership of 88 runs for the second wicket, to keep DC firmly in the contest.
After Prithvi Shaw, who scored 66 off 40, lost his stumps to a fiery yorker from Jasprit Bumrah, the MI fast bowler got the wicket of Abhisek Porel in the 40s. Rishabh Pant lasted three balls in his pursuit to bring down the ever increasing required run rate.
Amidst all the chaos at the other end, Tristan Stubbs, who had walked in at number four, scored 71 unbeaten off just 25 balls with three fours and seven maximums, but his contribution wasn’t enough. Mumbai Indians managed to restrict Delhi Capitals to 205/8 after Gerald Coetzee picked up three wickets in the final over.
