Mumbai Indians halted the winning run of Delhi Capitals with a 40-run victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Thursday.
The home stretch continued to be disenchanting for Delhi, who slumped to their third defeat out of four hosted here. The win helped Mumbai climbed to the second position with 12 points while Delhi slipped to the third place with 10 points.
The slow pitch here made stroke-making difficult. Mumbai, choosing to bat, were put in a bind by Delhi spinners before Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal, pushed the scoring in the death overs during their 54-run stand for the fourth wicket, which boosted their total to 168/5.
Delhi’s batting was left in tatters by leg-spinner Rahul Chahar who finished with the figures of 3-19. He was complemented by Jasprit Bumrah in restricting Delhi to 128/9.
Shikhar Dhawan took centre-stage in Powerplay but Chahar was quick to provide the breakthrough. He bowled Dhawan, who had gone for a reverse hit, in the seventh over and then returned in the ninth to pack off Prithvi Shaw.
By the 10th over, left-hander Colin Munro had joined the openers in the dugout after Krunal yorked his off-stump. Captain Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant provided some assurance, but Chahar was right on the money for the third time in the evening. In the 11th over, he dismissed Iyer with a perfect leg-spin, which turned from the good length to hit the top of his off-stump.
Once Bumrah knocked off the off-stump of a subdued Pant, Delhi reduced to 76/5, folded in shortly thereafter.
Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock started off slow for Mumbai before cutting loose in the last three overs of powerplay. Experienced leg-spinner Amit Mishra separated the two in another impressive outing. Introduced in the seventh over, he knocked the stumps of Rohit, the ball lying a tad low.
It pegged back Mumbai, who lost quick wickets. Ben Cuttings was back in the next over with off-spinner Axar Patel hitting the pads of the Australian who had gone down to sweep. De Kock kept one end busy but departed in the 10th over after he was run out following a mix-up with Surya Kumar Yadav.
With Delhi spinners creating pressure in helpful conditions, Mumbai could bring their 100 runs only in the 14th over. Yadav, though, couldn’t make much of his stay. He was shown the door in the 15th over after his mistimed scoop was caught brilliantly by a diving Pant.
It brought together the Pandya brothers. The two lifted the lull enveloping the Mumbai innings with attractive hitting. Hardik was dismissed in the last over, but Krunal carried his bat through, ensuring Mumbai add 50 runs in last three overs. It made the difference at the end.
