IPL 2022, MI vs DC, Top Performances: Axar aces chase for DC with 38*(17); Kuldeep shines with 3-18

IPL 2022, MI vs DC, Top Performances: Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav help Delhi Capitals beat Mumbai Indians

Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav added 75 runs and take DC over the line (Image ©BCCI/IPL)

Brief Scores: DC 179/6 (L Yadav 48*, A Patel 38*, B Thampi 3-35, M Ashwin 2-14) beat MI 177/5 (I Kishan 81*, R Sharma 41, K Yadav 3-18) by four wickets

Player of the match: Kuldeep Yadav (3-18)

After a cracking start where Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) thrashed defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, the 15th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) welcomed the finalist of the 2020 season, Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI) for their first game of 2022.

Delhi Capitals, after being under pressure for most part of the game, chased a heavy score thanks to an unbeaten 75-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav.

Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first. Interestingly, they had slotted just two overseas players - Rovman Powell and Tim Seifert - because of unavailability of a lot of their overseas players; while Mumbai shaped themselves in a new look with just four known faces.

Put into bat first, MI posted a commendable first innings total of 177 shouldering on the exciting 48-ball unbeaten 81 from Ishan Kishan, with credible help from 19-year-old Tilak Verma in the middle overs and Rohit Sharma in the beginning.

Delhi kept on losing wickets at regular intervals during their chase; although Prithvi Shaw stood for some time in the middle, he too took the road to the hut. Just when Mumbai sensed an easy win, Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel stitched a match-winning partnership of 75* for the seventh wicket to carry DC home.

Let’s scan the top performances from the second game of IPL 2022:

Ishan Kishan scores 81* runs against Delhi Capitals (Image ©BCCI/IPL)

Ishan Kishan (81*) cracked fireworks to register a fierce knock

There have been a lot of murmurs after the IPL mega auction whether Ishan Kishan, who had returned to Mumbai Indians thanks to a whooping INR 15.25 crore sum, could deliver under the given price tag.

It couldn’t be a better way to silence those people who were doubting his abilities. In his first game of the campaign, the left-hander registered a 50-run opening partnership in the powerplay. Even though captain Rohit Sharma got out, Kishan stayed there till the end.

He did slow up a bit in the middle overs against the spinners but raised speed as he reached his 10th IPL half-century. Since 2020, it was his fifth IPL fifty as an opener. He went berserk late in the innings cracking the balls to all parts of the park; especially in the last over, where he collected 16 runs off Shardul Thakur as Mumbai Indians powered up to 177 runs.

But Kishan, the opener played just 48 balls in a 120-ball game which could be a point Mumbai would regret especially after the result.

Kuldeep Yadav takes 3-18 against Mumbai Indians (Image ©BCCI/IPL)

Kuldeep Yadav spins web with figures of 3-18

The whole of India erupted together as Kuldeep Yadav straightaway after reaching Delhi from Kolkata got into the playing eleven. He didn’t waste too much time to grab the spotlight. Coming into the attack after the powerplay, he broke the ominous looking opening partnership by dismissing Rohit Sharma at deep mid-wicket on 41.

In his very next over, the Chinaman bowler got rid of Anmolpreet Singh, who in an aim to go over covers, found the long-off fielder. It wasn’t only about picking up wickets but Kuldeep looked to be in rhythm and exhibited tremendous confidence as he has dried up the singles stopping the strike rotation.

Coming into the 16th over to finish his quota, the 27-year-old sent back the big fish, Kieron Pollard who pulled a short ball straight into the lap of the mid-wicket fielder.

“My lengths are good and I’m working very hard,” expressed Kuldeep Yadav who ended his spell with 3-18. “I’m varying my lengths as I knew batters can step out and play it easily here.”

Axar Patel-Lalit Yadav match winning partnership handed Mumbai their tenth loss in the season opener

The target with the loss of every wicket, was getting far away from the hands of Delhi but the match-winning partnership between Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav again showed why teams tend to arrange a team that bat deep down the order. When Axar joined Lalit Yadav, they were still behind the eight-ball requiring 74 runs from just 41 balls.

But, the left-right combination kept their cool and targeted the right balls to fly out of the Brabourne stadium. Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t having his normal day and both the batters took advantage of it. The wayward bowling of MI bowlers wasn’t helping them in their cause and later, Daniel Sams bowling in his last over was torn away for 24 runs as Axar-Lalit handed Mumbai Indians their tenth defeat in the season opener.

Basil Thampi, M Ashwin take five wickets among them against DC (Image ©BCCI/IPL)

Murugan Ashwin and Basil Thampi made regular breakthroughs to hurt Delhi’s chase

Just like Mumbai Indians, both Delhi openers too got off to a fabulous start with 30 on the board in just the third over. Rohit Sharma played a trick by introducing leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin into the attack who with his third ball disturbed the stumps of Tim Seifert who failed to read the googly.

On the very next ball, he counted himself lucky as Mandeep Singh smashed a full toss to the mid-on fielder as Mumbai broke Delhi’s early plan of a good foundation. Although, he didn’t get more wickets, the 31-year-old whom Mumbai bagged for INR 1.60 crores, ensured the dry run flow of Delhi to keep them away from the target.

Basil Thampi, after a very ordinary first over, came back to cut Delhi’s aim by sending two in form batters within a span of just two balls. When Rohit got him back in the 10th over, the Kerala boy first got the better of good-looking Prithvi Shaw who mistimed a pull before sending back in form Rovman Powell for a duck.

In his third over, he extinguished Shardul Thakur’s firepower to pick up his third wicket. During the death overs, he tried his best to nail those yorkers but the regular boundaries wasted both Ashwin and Thampi’s good work.

What to follow next:

Mumbai Indians will hope to open their account in this season in their next game against Rajasthan Royals whereas Delhi Capitals will face new franchise Gujrat Titans in their second game. Both games will be played on April 2, Saturday.

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