Delhi Capital’s lower middle order batters, Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel, toyed with Mumbai Indians bowlers. The match was played at Brabourne Stadium, in which there is some movement for the bowlers. This was the 2nd match of the Tata IPL 2022. DC has wonderfully started its campaign by defeating the champion MI team.
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Kuldeep Yadav’s Rise to the Occasion
Delhi Capitals had won the toss and elected to bowl first, MI had a productive power-play as they scored 53 runs. The captain, Rohit Sharma, scored 41 runs in 32 balls. The left-arm Chinaman, Kuldeep Yadav, got rid of the skipper. He had an unbelievable figure of 3 wickets for 18 runs, which dented the back of MI’s innings.
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Ishan Kishan’s Entertaining knock
The million-dollar baby of Tata IPL 2022, Ishan Kishan, showcased his credentials by notching up a turbulent knock of 81 runs in 48 balls. He built the innings in magnificent style, taking his time at first and then accelerating them. He struck 11 fours and 2 sixes and got ample support from other batters as the rest of the cricketers played small cameos of 15-20 runs. All in all, MI posted a formidable total of 177 runs for 5 wickets.
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Murugan Ashwin’s foxy instincts
In response to the 178 run target, DC lost 3 wickets in 3 power-play overs for 46 runs. The leggie Murugan took 2 wickets in one over, which shifted the momentum in favor of MI.
At the end of 10 overs, the score was 77 for 5, and DC’s all-star batters were back in the hut. It looked like MI would win the clash by 20 odd runs, but then came Shardul Thakur.
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Shardul Thakur’s short cameo
Thakur was in beast mode from ball one and he smashed 3 boundaries to the Yorker sensation Jasprit Bumrah. All of a sudden, Thakur made DC believe that they could still win.
In the 7 overs, DC required 74 to win with 5 wickets in the tank; Shardul couldn’t control it and in the process lost his wicket.
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Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel on a roll
Lalit Yadav was playing the role of a silent assassin. He, along with Axar Patel, got their eyes in and were focusing on an odd boundary. In the last 5 overs, DC required 56 runs to win with 4 wickets in the tank.
Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav went berserk and were showing no mercy. Axar Patel was dropped on 15 by Tim David on the bowling off Basil Thampi. That drop proved to be a costly one.
Lalit Yadav dropped the role of anchor and went into beast mode. The batters hunted down the target with 10 legal deliveries remaining as Lalit Yadav scored 48 in 38 whereas Axar Patel scored 38 in 17.
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Basil Thampi gives a thumping performance for MI
Basil Thampi was the standout bowler from the MI camp, taking three wickets and conceding 35 runs. Rohit Sharma would rue the dropped catch, but putting the entire blame on Tim David won’t be good for the spirit of the game as the death bowling was very bad. The bowling unit of MI is expected to threaten the opponent, who was seen missing. As Jasprit Bumrah was taken to the cleaners as he conceded 43 runs in 3.2 overs, which isn’t a good sign for a champion team.
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What lies ahead for MI and DC?
MI’s next match is against the Rajasthan Royals on April 2, 2022, at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai. But MI will need to get their bowling right, or else any total won’t be safe.
DC’s next match is on April 2nd at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune against the new team, Gujarat Titans. DC hopes that the top order excels and that the lower middle order isn’t needed to get the team over the finish line.
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