IPL 2021: MI vs DC Review – Shreyas Iyer’s ice-cool knock helps Delhi beat Mumbai

Delhi Capitals won another game against Mumbai Indians, which is now their ninth win of the season. It was a low-scoring thriller that went down to the wire with Mumbai eventually losing out in the last over. Delhi chased the total with five balls remaining and four wickets in their hands.

Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first in hope of restricting Mumbai for a low score, a challenge on which his bowlers delivered. Rohit Sharma was dismissed early while Quinton de Kock made 19. Suryakumar Yadav looked good for some time but was dismissed against the run of play for 33 runs. That was about it for any significant batting contribution from Mumbai’s batters. They ended on 129 for 8.

For Delhi, it was Avesh Khan and Axar Patel who got three wickets each. Anrich Nortje and Ravi Ashwin also got a wicket each. But much like Mumbai’s innings, Delhi failed to kick on at a good rate. None of their top three batters scored a double-digit score. Pant made a handy contribution of 26 runs. Shimron Hetmyer made 15 runs as well.

But, it was Shreyas Iyer’s calm and composed knock which kept Delhi in the hunt. He didn’t attack too much and took calculated risks as he saw other batters struggle and get out. He was involved in a crucial partnership with Ashwin, who made 20 runs and finished the chase with a six, his only boundary of the innings. Iyer was unbeaten on 33. Their stand was 39 runs and match-winning in a lot of sense.

Top performers:

Axar Patel: The left-arm spinner managed to restrict the Mumbai batters in the middle overs, keeping them under a lot of pressure. He picked three wickets and that of Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary. Patel also gave only 21 runs in four overs.

Avesh Khan: The right-arm bowler is having a season to remember and continued his good form with the ball. He took the wickets of Hardik Pandya, Rohit and Nathan Coulter-Nile. He was too economical, giving only 15 runs in his four overs.

Shreyas Iyer: The right-handed batter carried Delhi’s innings on his shoulder and showed how to approach batting on slow wickets such as this one in Sharjah. He hit only two fours in his innings and focused on risk-free cricket with singles and doubles. His knock was the difference in the end.

Personal achievements/records:

• Rohit Sharma now has the most single digit scores in IPL (60).
• Shikhar Dhawan has suffered the most run-outs in IPL now (16).

Way ahead:

Mumbai will now play Rajasthan on October 5 while Delhi will play Chennai on October 4.