Twitter Reactions: Clinical MI seamlessly chase down 163 to beat DC and go top of the point table

DC weren't great in the field while Mumbai Indians were professional in their approach.

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Quinton de Kock
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Quinton de Kock. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Mumbai Indians (MI) have climbed to the top of the points table with their fifth win in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. It was the much-awaited clash between them and Delhi Capitals (DC). But the three-time champions were extremely clinical in their approach and at no stage, allowed the opposition to come into the game, neither with the ball nor with the bat

Earlier, DC skipper Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first after winning the toss and must have left regretting his decision soon. Prithvi Shaw got out in the first over itself while Ajinkya Rahane, playing his first game of the season, also mustered only 15 runs to leave the team at 24/2 in the fifth over of the innings. Shikhar Dhawan, however, looked determined in the middle from the word go.

He and Iyer played patiently adding 85 runs for the third-wicket in around 10 overs. It was a decent going in the middle until the duo was batting as they rotated the strike and churned out boundaries whenever needed. But Iyer’s dismissal in the 15th over after scoring 42 runs sucked the momentum out of DC’s innings.

MI had some brilliant bowlers at the death to keep a lid on the run-scoring. Though Dhawan tried his best scoring a half-century he looked tired in the end and couldn’t up the ante. The southpaw remained unbeaten on 69 off 52 deliveries while Marcus Stoinis (13 off 8) and Alex Carey (14* off 9) played cameos to somehow propel the team to 162 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs.

Krunal Pandya was the best bowler for MI with his figures of 2/26 while Jasprit Bumrah also did well conceding only 26 without picking up a wicket.

Clinical chase

163 was a tricky chase and MI would’ve loved a good start. But their skipper Rohit Sharma mistimed a short ball off Axar Patel to be caught in the deep after a painstaking 12-ball 5. But then, Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav made sure there were no more hiccups for the next five overs. The former looked in amazing touch playing some sublime shots and also got to his half-century, the second of the season.

Meanwhile, Surya, at the other end, once again displayed the range of his shots and also took control of the proceedings after his partner got out. Ravi Ashwin got the better of De Kock on 53 in the 10th over but DC couldn’t sustain the pressure. Surya toyed with the field as he played some very good shots to get past the 50-run mark as well.

DC also made a few mistakes in the field and one among them was missing the run-out chance of Ishan Kishan soon after De Kock got out. The 53-run third wicket partnership almost seal the deal for the three-time champions. But things got delayed a bit with Surya and Hardik Pandya getting out off consecutive deliveries.

The going got tough after a couple of wickets but MI kept churning out boundaries at crucial stages and brought the required run-rate below six. Even Ishan Kishan was holed out in the deep in the 18th over to delay the inevitable. Though the Capitals hung in there till the end, MI had enough firepower to get over the line in the last over of the innings and climb to the top of the points table.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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