For a side that till four rounds ago looked well-oiled enough to land a first IPL title, this has been some implosion from Delhi Capitals (DC). Saturday’s nine wicket defeat against table-toppers Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai was their fourth in a row and their fate now could hinge on how they fare against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday.
What will hurt DC, who won five of their first six games of IPL13, is that the big loss will hurt their net run rate. Their struggles at the top of the order continued and even their bowling looked listless. A total of 110/9 was never going to test MI who knocked off the runs in 14.2 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile produced a brilliant display of fast bowling as Delhi’s frontline batters succumbed to poor Shots. Shikhar Dhawan fell to a cut for his third failure on the trot and Prithvi Shaw, brought back at the expense of Ajinkya Rahane, too miscued a pull to extend his lean run.
Captain Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant tried resurrecting the innings after MI put DC in. Iyer made 25 and Pant 21 and they added 35 for the third wicket. But from 50/2 in the 11th over, DC collapsed losing wickets almost every two overs and two wickets in the 12th bowled by Bumrah. The dismissals of Pant and Marcus Stoinis in the same over sucked out hopes of a revival before Bumrah dismissed Harshal Patel in a spell that was fast and furious after not being given the new ball.
MI were ruthless in reply with Ishan Kishan and Quinton-de-Kock (26) adding 68 runs for the first wicket. Kishan played some breathtaking shots off Kagiso Rababa and Anrich Nortje, including the six over square-leg that ended the game, on way to a 47-ball unbeaten 72. With 18 points, MI are now assured of a spot in the top two in the standings.
{{/usCountry}}MI were ruthless in reply with Ishan Kishan and Quinton-de-Kock (26) adding 68 runs for the first wicket. Kishan played some breathtaking shots off Kagiso Rababa and Anrich Nortje, including the six over square-leg that ended the game, on way to a 47-ball unbeaten 72. With 18 points, MI are now assured of a spot in the top two in the standings.
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