MUMBAI: In the end, the 32 runs that Romario Shepherd scored in the last over off Anrich Nortje proved to be the difference as Mumbai Indians recorded their first win of the season when they defeated Delhi Capitals by 29 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Till the 15th over of MI's innings, DC would have felt that they have done a decent job of keeping the home side's scoring in check. MI, after a brisk start in the Powerplay, where they were 75 for no loss, were reduced to 138 for four at that stage having scored just 63 runs from overs 7 and 15 and lost four wickets for just 41 runs.
But just when DC thought that they had MI on the mat, their big-hitters-Tim David (45*, 21b; 2x4, 4x6) and Shepherd (39*, 10b; 3x4, 4x6) shared an unbeaten 13-ball 53 stand for the sixth wicket to turn the tables on DC. MI scored 96 in the last five overs, 42 in the last eight balls and 32 in the last over. That turn of speed helped MI post 234-5 which in the end proved to be an uphill task for DC to scale as they could reach just 205 for eight to suffer their fourth loss in five matches.
MI's total was their third highest in the IPL's history and their top-most at the Wankhede. It was also the highest team total in T20s where no player scored a fifty. The carnage was started by David, who was 16 from 14 balls before he hit Kahleel Ahmed for two huge sixes in the 17 overs. MI never looked back thereafter.
David took 11-including a no ball-off the first two balls in the 18th over bowled by Nortje and then hit two boundaries and six in the penultimate over delivered by Ishant Sharma to help MI cross the 200-run mark. A decent score on a placid wicket but then West Indian Shepherd, playing just his second match for MI, took the game away from DC.
The 29-year-old flexed his broad shoulders and he hit four sixes-including one out of the ground over Vijay Merchant Stand over deep square-leg-and two fours to accumulate 32 runs off the Nortje's final over which was also the second most expensive final over in the IPL history after Ravindra Jadeja clattered Harshal Patel for 37-including a no ball-in the 2021 season at the same venue.
Earlier, put into bat, MI were off to a flying start thanks to Rohit Sharma (49, 27b; 6x4, 3x6) and Ishan Kishan's (42, 23b; 4x4, 2x6) 42-ball 80 partnership for the opening wicket. But MI lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter as DC dried up MI's run flow. Rohit and Ishan fell to Axar Patel (2-35), who was the key to DC halting MI's progress during that period, while returning Suryakumar Yadav, who failed to open the account, and Tilak Varma (6, 5b; 1x4) were sent back by Nortje and Khaleel Ahmed respectively.
It looked like MI innings would spiral out of control but skipper Hardik Pandya (39, 33b; 3x4, 1x6) and David's 32-ball 60 for the fifth-wicket association kept MI in the game.
For DC, Prithvi Shaw (60, 40b; 8x4, 3x6) and Tristan Stubbs's (71*, 25b; 3x4, 7x6) half-centuries kept them in the game but the visitors lacked the killer punch in the end overs, like MI, which could have taken them over the line.
1/10:Romario Shepherd blasts 32 in final over as Mumbai Indians take first IPL win
AFP
2/10:Shepherd carnage
<p>Romario Shepherd smashed 32 runs off the 20th over for Mumbai Indians to set up their first victory of this IPL season as they beat Delhi Capitals by 29 runs on Sunday.<br /></p>AFP
3/10:Shepherd storm strikes Wankhede
<p>The West Indies big-hitter crashed a 10-ball 39 in an unbeaten stand of 53 off 13 deliveries with Tim David, who struck 45, to steer Mumbai to 234 for 5 at their home Wankhede Stadium.<br /></p>AFP
4/10:DC at bottom of the table
<p>Delhi finished on 205 for 8 despite Tristan Stubbs' unbeaten 25-ball 71. They slumped to the bottom of the 10-team table.<br /></p>TOI Sports
5/10:A win after hat-trick of defeats
<p>Five-time IPL winners Mumbai bounced back from their opening three losses in a relief for skipper Hardik Pandya, who has been booed by the fans on all venues after he replaced Rohit Sharma as captain ahead of this edition.<br /></p>PTI
6/10:Nortje taken to cleaners
<p>David smashed a six and four at the end of the 19th before Shepherd walloped Anrich Nortje for four sixes and two fours in the last over as Mumbai took 42 runs from the final eight balls.<br /></p>IANS
7/10:Perfect start
<p>Rohit (49) and Ishan Kishan (42) lay the foundations for the total in an 80-run opening stand before Axar Patel sent the two back in the pavilion with his left-arm spin.<br /></p>PTI
8/10:Suryakumar disappoints on return
<p>Returning batsman Suryakumar Yadav, who missed the first three losses to an injury lay-off, survived a toe-crushing yorker by Nortje on his first ball and then miscued the next delivery to mid-on for a two-ball duck.<br /></p>ANI
9/10:Hardik, David rescue act
<p>Mumbai lost another wicket before Pandya and David put on 60 to steady the innings and take the attack to the opposition ahead of Shepherd's explosive knock.<br /></p>AFP
