Avesh, Axar star with the ball before Iyer, Ashwin see Delhi through in tricky chase
The Delhi Capitals probably have two of the biggest names in the world in their bowling line-up in South African pace duo Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. They bowl the heavy ball, hit the hard lengths and have slower ones that deceive the best players. However, on Saturday, it was the two Indian bowlers, Axar Patel and Avesh Khan, who choked the Mumbai Indians and struck telling blows at key times to stall the defending champions.
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The Capitals, who won the toss and chose to field on a tired Sharjah pitch, limited MI to 129/8. It is the sort of total they have never failed to chase in the history of the tournament and unfortunately for MI and their fans on Saturday, despite initial hiccups, it was not the day that Rishabh Pant's side were keen to register a dubious first.
The hiccups came in the form of the early departures of Shikhar Dhawan (run out), Prithvi Shaw and Steve Smith. But a controlled knock from ex-skipper Shreyas Iyer (33; 33 balls, 2x4, 2x6), who used the depth of the batting crease expertly to score important boundaries off the backfoot off Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, a chancy cameo from skipper Pant and calculated batting from R Ashwin saw them through with five balls and four wickets to spare.
Ashwin (20* off 21 balls, 1x6) added 39 runs with Iyer and hit the winning six off Krunal Pandya's first ball in the 20th over to help Capitals end a win away from a top-two finish.
Mumbai Indians can still sneak into the final four, but they must win their remaining two games against Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad and then depend on other results going their way.
1/9:FIERY PACER
<p>Avesh Khan's bowling figures of 3-15 and an unbeaten 33 by Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Capitals beat holders Mumbai Indians by four wickets in a low-scoring Indian Premier League contest on Saturday. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/PTI)</p>
2/9:RATTLED
<p>Avesh Khan and spinner Axar Patel took three wickets each to help restrict five-time champions Mumbai to 129-8, a total Delhi overhauled in 19.1 overs on a sluggish Sharjah pitch. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/PTI)</p>
3/9:STUPENDOUS
<p>Delhi, who have already qualified for the play-offs after MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings, now eye a top two finish at the end of the league stage in the Twenty20 tournament. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/ANI)</p>
4/9:POOR SHOW
<p>Rohit Sharma's Mumbai have lost three of their four matches. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/ANI)</p>
5/9:TOUGH TASK AHEAD
<p>Mumbai Indians need to win their remaining two games to have any chance of making the play-offs which will feature four teams fighting for a place in the final. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)</p>
6/9:WHAT A SPELL!
<p>Avesh, who shared the new ball with pace partner Anrich Nortje, took down Rohit in his first over after Delhi elected to field first and later Axar rattled the top order with his left-arm spin. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/ANI)<br /></p>
7/9:SKY ON TOP
<p>Suryakumar Yadav top-scored with 33 but the rest of the Mumbai batting faltered against a disciplined bowling attack. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/PTI)</p>
8/9:POOR START
<p>Delhi wobbled in their reply after Shikhar Dhawan was run out, Prithvi Shaw fell lbw and Steve Smith was bowled by Nathan Coulter-Nile for nine. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/PTI)</p>
9/9:MATCH-WINNING KNOCK
<p>Rishabh Pant made 26 and then Shreyas Iyer stayed calm in his 33-ball knock and put together unbeaten 39 runs with Ravichandran Ashwin, who hit the winning six in his 20, to take the team home. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL/ANI)</p>Capitals must thank Avesh and Axar. The duo collectively bowled a spell of 8-0-36-6 and devoured the cream of the MI line-up. Avesh, (16 dot balls), a strapping pacer from Indore, beat MI skipper Rohit Sharma for pace (not many do that) and his miscued pull landed in the hands of Rabada at third man. Axar then bowled with control and varied his speed beautifully. Every time MI looked to break free, the Gujarat left arm-spinner struck.
Quinton de Kock could not control a slash and holed out to Nortje at point, but the big scalp was that of Suryakumar Yadav, who after a long time looked to have found rhythm.
Hardik Pandya threatened to break free but was bowled by a beautiful in-swinging yorker from Avesh.
