Kuldeep, Axar, Lalit drive DC to memorable win

The Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the second game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.  was adjudged to be the Man of the Match. Kuldeep Yadav was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Ishan Kishan: Money well spent for MI

For the past two years or so, Ishan Kishan has been identified as one of the future stars in cricket. MI had found themselves in a bit of a conundrum towards the end of 2021, when they realised that they wou;dn’t be able to retain their prodigy before the start of this year’s mega auction. However, after getting him back in the auction for a whopping INR 15.25 crore, many wondered if the price tag would weigh on the 23-year-old’s mind, and directly impact his performance on the field.

Yet, Kishan cast aside any and all doubts with his knock this afternoon. From the sumptuous cover drives to the risky but rewarding aerial shots, it was a typical Ishan Kishan innings. With Kishan and skipper Rohit Sharma the opening pair for the MI, the team management would be hoping for Kishan to give the rapid starts while Sharma settles in, and at least one of them goes on to make the big score. Today, it was Kishan who stayed there till the end, remaining unbeaten on 81 off 48 balls ensuring his team got a good total on a pitch suited for the batters.

Rohit and Varma provide the impetus

If you look at Rohit Sharma’s statistics, it is clear to see that he prefers to start off slowly before getting into the groove. This is one of many reasons why the MI management was keen to acquire the swashbuckling services of Kishan. Yet, Rohit took little time to get adjusted today. In fact, he took no time at all!

The third ball he faced was a gift, a ball drifting onto his pads, which he promptly put away. Another three balls later, he showed the full face of the bat to launch one over the long-off boundary. From there, Rohit went onto time almost everything thrown at him, before he just didn’t get enough power for a Kuldeep Yadav delivery, and found the grateful hands of Rovman Powell instead.

Afterwards, IPL debutant Tilak Varma showcased his talent with exquisite timing and power, and gave a bit of a push to the run rate that was stagnating a bit for MI. Varma eventually got out for 22 off 15 balls, but he had done his part, and Kishan took over the finishing duties.

Thakur starts the fight

177 is a par score in Twenty-20 cricket, so DC may not have felt that the game was out of their hands at the end of the first half. But when they lost their fifth wicket for 72 runs before the 10th over, certainly most thought the game was heading in one direction and one direction only.

Enter Shardul Thakur, the man who has been lauded for his performances with the Indian National Team. Perhaps he may have thought it was a lost cause as well, but one cannot deny that it was Thakur who brought life back into the game. A quickfire 22 at a strike rate of 200 hurt the confidence of MI, and once the chaos was stopped, the fielding side definitely breathed a sigh of relief. But little did they, or anyone for that matter, know that Thakur’s energy would be transferred to LAlit Yadav and Axar Patel.

Lalit and Axar leave MI bewildered

Even though Thakur had done what he could, a comeback from 104/6 seemed like a tall ask for the Capitals. With a bowling lineup of Daniel Sams, Jasprit Bumrah and Tymal Mills, most would have expected MI to provide the finishing touches.

But, at the end of the night, Sams and Bumrah bowled a combined 7.2 overs, and conceded 100 runs between them. In hindsight, the signs of a DC comeback were present; the batters managed to score a boundary in the last ball of an over far more often than MI would have wanted. However, it really wasn’t the 18th over, when Sams’ slower balls turned out to be their undoing. Axar and Lalit creamed the Australian for 24 runs, leaving 4 runs required off the last two overs for the batting side. A walk in the park, the two men finished the game off with the next two balls off Jasprit Bumrah.