IPL 2025 | Karn Sharma showed a lot of heart: MI Skipper Hardik Pandya

New Delhi: A relieved Hardik Pandya credited 'impact sub' Karn Sharma for showing a lot of heart to fashion Mumbai Indians' 12-run win against Delhi Capitals here on Sunday, a result that helped the visitors get their IPL campaign back on track.

DC were cruising at 119 for one just after the halfway stage but were eventually bowled out for 193 in 19 overs, with spinner Karn playing a pivotal role by taking three wickets for 36 runs.

It was skipper Rohit Sharma who suggested to coach Mahela Jayawardene to bring Karn into the attack and also requested a ball change after the 11th over.

"Absolutely. Winning is always special. Especially in games like this. You have to keep fighting and it means a lot," said Pandya at the post-match presentation when asked if he felt relieved after MI secured only their second win of the season.

"(Karn was) Fantastic. Coming in and bowling the way he bowled, showed a lot of heart, especially at a small ground like that." Karun Nair's whirlwind 89 went in vain, and Pandya admitted the knock took them by surprise.

"We were running out of options regarding what to bowl at him. The way he took on our bowlers, took his chances, and the way he executed — it shows the hard work he has put in. I think he took us by surprise." DC batters suffered a dramatic collapse that included three successive run outs, ending their chase at 193.

"I always believe fielding is something that can change the game upside down. We were switched on, didn't give up, and they got the chances and converted." Sent in to bat, Tilak Varma smashed a 33-ball 59 to power Mumbai Indians to 205 for 5.

Ryan Rickelton (41 off 25), Suryakumar Yadav (40 off 28), and Naman Dhir (38 off 17) also made vital contributions.

Speaking about MI's batting approach, Pandya said it depends on the situation.

"Amazing. It's always going to depend on the situation. The more the in-form players try to face the balls and take responsibility.

"Obviously, dew played a factor later. Just making sure the game is not over till it’s over. Keep fighting — that was the chatter in the group and my message to the boys. Wins like this change the momentum and bring everything back."

Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel blamed "soft dismissals" in the middle order for the loss but didn't want to dwell too much on the result.

"We had the game. I think we had soft dismissals from the middle order, some bad shots. We lost by 12 runs with an over to go, so we could have still won it. It can't happen that your lower-order batters will always come and save you in chases.

"There are some odd days where you play wrong shots, so I don't think there's any point thinking too much about it. I thought 205 was a great target because it was a good pitch and dew was also coming." Axar also pointed to sloppy fielding as a factor that allowed MI to cross the 200-mark, but praised his spin unit.

"Maybe if we had caught better, we'd have kept them to a lower score. I get confidence in bowling all three of our spinners, and two of the three can also bowl in the powerplay," he said.

"Kuldeep is bowling unbelievably this season. Whenever I need a wicket, I can go to him. I think there were a lot of positives today — we just need to forget about this game."