The 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) has been all about big shots, big scores and the ball disappearing into the stands regularly. Saturday's afternoon game between Delhi Capitals and the Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was no different. Batting first, DC put up a mammoth total of 257/4 in their 20 overs. MI couldn't chase down the improbable target but made a good fist of it in the chase, scoring 247/9.
While fans would have been enthralled by the six-hitting exhibition put up by the batters, one individual ended up needing medical attention. The incident occurred in the 14th over of the MI innings. Tim David hit the fifth delivery of the over bowled by pacer Khaleel Ahmed high over midwicket and into the stands for a six. David had hit it with some venom and the ball went high into the sky before coming down and a fan happened to be at the end of its trajectory. He tried to catch the ball but it deflected off his hands and hit his face instead. The fan could then be seen being escorted out of the area as he covered his face with a towel. The Capitals responded to the incident on social media and wished the fan a speedy recovery.
Tilak Varma and Tim David then put up a stand of 70 off 29 balls but it was all too little too late for MI. The visitors had got off to a shaky start in the chase, losing Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in the powerplay itself. MI's fight really started with Hardik Pandya scoring 46 off 24 balls, which was followed by David and Tilak's stand.
{{/usCountry}}Tilak Varma and Tim David then put up a stand of 70 off 29 balls but it was all too little too late for MI. The visitors had got off to a shaky start in the chase, losing Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in the powerplay itself. MI's fight really started with Hardik Pandya scoring 46 off 24 balls, which was followed by David and Tilak's stand.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, DC opener Jake Fraser-McGurk equalled his own record for fastest IPL fifty by getting to the milestone in just 15 balls. He even smashed Jasprit Bumrah for 18 runs in the second over. Bumrah returned in the sixth over and gave just three runs in it but even then, Delhi Capitals were flying at 92/0 at the end of the powerplay.
Frazer-McGurk went on to blaze 84 off 27 balls before finally falling to Piyush Chawla. Then came a period of relative quiet as Abhishek Porel fell to Mohammad Nabi on 36 off 27 balls. Shai Hope then resumed the fireworks, scoring 41 in just 17 balls. He fell to Luke Wood but the pacer was clubbed for 26 runs in his final over by Tristan Stubbs, thus finishing with figures of 1/68. Bumrah then dismissed Rishabh Pant for 29 in 19 balls after which Stubbs ensured that DC got 17 runs in the final over. Stubbs finished unbeaten on 48 off 25 balls.