Back-to-back wins for Delhi Capitals (DC). After defeating Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their first match of the campaign, they also got a win over Mumbai Indians (MI). On Saturday, they outclassed star-studded MI in all departments to claim the competition.
While KL Rahul’s disappointing performance has raised concerns for Delhi Capitals, their emerging batsman Sameer Rizvi continues to be in great form. The 22-year-old batsman played two match-winning innings in two consecutive matches. Today the young cannon missed his century by just 10 runs.
Sameer Rizvi and Pathum Nissanka ensure Delhi Capitals’ victory
Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka also played an important role in ensuring the victory of Delhi Capitals today. His composed innings helped the team save KL Rahul from early dismissal. Nissanka played an inning of 44 runs in 30 balls and Rizvi played a stormy inning of 90 runs in 51 balls. The DC prodigy hit seven fours and seven sixes to wrap up his innings.
At one point in the run chase, when the team was on 7 runs, Delhi lost two wickets as Nitish Rana also got out for a duck soon after the fall of KL Rahul’s wicket.
Mumbai Indians had no strength without Hardik Pandya.
Batting first, Mumbai Indians scored 162 runs in 20 overs. Acting captain Suryakumar Yadav’s inning of 51 runs helped the team the most in putting up a respectable score on the board. Rohit Sharma’s 35 runs out of 26 were also notable in Mumbai’s batting.
The team’s regular captain Hardik Pandya could not play in this match as he seemed unable to perform well. In Pandya’s absence, Suryakumar Yadav took command of the team. Without Pandya in the line-up, the team may lack extra firepower in both its batting and bowling.
Delhi Capitals easily achieved the target of 163 runs and won the match with 6 wickets and 11 balls remaining. Shardul Thakur, who bowled brilliantly against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), was the most expensive bowler of MI in today’s match, he gave 41 runs in 3 overs and did not take a single wicket.
DC fast bowler Mukesh Kumar was the best bowler of the match, taking two wickets for 26 runs in 3 overs. DC captain Akshar Patel was also effective in the match. With his spin bowling, he took one wicket in 4 overs at an economy rate of 5.5.
Axar Patel reflects on his team selection process
Delhi Capitals captain Akshar Patel said after the match, “In T20 you need flexibility. If you have players who can bat in any position, and if the wicket is different and you can use that player, then you have to keep an open mind. It does not mean that things will happen just because you have pushed someone higher up the order.”
“It’s a strategic move, if it’s successful then it’s great. Ashutosh is playing well, but you pick a player based on the needs of the day. If I have to pick, it’s a good problem, which shows how good our bench strength is. We have to take one game at a time and maintain the momentum, especially after the break between games,” he said.
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