Mumbai, May 21 (IANS) Mumbai Indians stormed into the Playoffs as Mitchell Santner and Jasprit Bumrah claimed three wickets apiece after a brilliant unbeaten 73 by Suryakumar to guide their team to a commanding 59-run victory over Delhi Capitals in Match 63 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
Mumbai Indians were in trouble in the 18th over as Delhi Capitals had kept them under a tight leash, and it was looking like they may not reach 150 as they were struggling at 132/5 with two overs to go. But Suryakumar Yadav, who hammered a 43-ball 73, and Naman Dhir (24* off 8) blasted 48 runs in the last two overs to help Mumbai reach 180/5 in 20 overs.
That proved a turning point in the match because it gave the five-time champions a big boost. Mumbai Indians came back strongly with the ball, used the conditions superbly, and with Santner picking 3-11 and Bumrah bagging 3-12, bundled out Delhi Capitals for 121 in 18.2 overs to win by 59 runs as rain, which had threatened all through the evening, came down in a drizzle.
Mumbai Indians, who had a forgettable campaign in 2024 and had started with one win in five matches this season, scripted a tremendous turn-around with a six match unbeaten run as they clinched a well-deserved spot in the playoffs.
Delhi Capitals missed their captain, Axar Patel a lot as he would have loved bowling on this wicket and could have helped them restrict Mumbai Indians to a smaller total. But that was not to be again as Delhi lost their way after making a strong start, which has been the story of their IPL 2025 campaign.
The dew was expected to ease up things for the chase, but with the skies still overcast, it did not have any impact as Mumbai Indians bowled superbly to register a memorable victory.
Delhi got off to a poor start and were 49/3 at the end of the Power-play. Deepak Chahar struck in the second over as stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis departed, trying to blast a slower one on the length but ended up offering a tame catch to Mitchell Santner.
K.L. Rahul, Delhi Capitals' best batter this season, surprisingly came in as an Impact Substitute, struck two boundaries in his six-ball 11 before Boult did him in, extracting an edge behind with a scrambled seam delivery as the batter skips down the pitch but could manage only an agricultural swipe.
From 20/2, Delhi Capitals continued to stumble, as Will Jacks struck in the fifth over, getting Abhishek Porel for six with a neat stumping, ruled by DRS on review, as the Englishman drew the batter with a looped-up delivery.
Santner, who varied his flight and controlled pace well, and Bumrah, efficient as usual, were at their inspired best on Wednesday and took over after that. They struck at regular intervals and had DC under pressure always.
Vipraj Nigam, who struck an 11-ball 20 to add to his superb bowling, and Sameer Rizvi played small cameos, but in the end it was not enough. Rizvi hit six boundaries and one six for 39 off 35 balls was the top-scorer for Delhi Capitals but his effort was too little and too late.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma lasted just five deliveries in his first match at the venue after the MCA unveiled a stand in his name. He tried to run down a length delivery angled across outside off-stump, edging behind an easy chance to Abhishek Porel to give Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman his first wicket of IPL 2025.
Will Jacks (21 off 13), who struck Vipraj Nigam for a couple of uppish fours and also dumped one over the rope at deep square-leg, lobbed a wide and slow one to Nigam at mid-off to give Mukesh Kumar his first wicket of the match.
Rickelton, looking composed at the other end, carted Dushmantha Chameera for two big sixes -- first over the bowler's head and the next over long-off -- departed soon after the Power-play, falling to the guile of Kuldeep Yadav for 25 off 18, and MI were down to 58/3.
Suryakumar Yadav, who played some good shots and survived a DRS review, and Tilak Varma, who struggled to get into a rhythm, took MI past the 100-run mark, hitting a four here and a six there. Delhi Capitals kept a tight leash on the proceedings with Kuldeep Yadav (1-22 off 4) and Vipraj Nigam (0-25 off 4) bowling tidy spells.
SKY and Varma shared a 55-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Varma (21 off 13) fell in the 15th over, trying to score a boundary off Mukesh Kumar. Mumbai could manage only 64/2 in the middle overs as the going was painstakingly slow.
Skipper Hardik Pandya lasted six deliveries for three runs before falling to Chameera to make it 123/5 in the 17th over.
Suryakumar Yadav broke the shackles with a big six over extra cover off Mukesh Kumar to reach a well-deserved half-century off 36 balls, and Naman Dhir blasted two fours and two sixes off a struggling Mukesh Kumar, who sought the physio's help, to blast 27 runs for the over and take MI past the 150-run mark. They shared a fifty-run partnership in 19 balls as Mumbai Indians reached a fighting total.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 180/5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 73 not out, Tilak Varma 27, Naman Dhir 24 not out; Mukesh Kumar 2-48, Kuldeep Yadav 1-22) beat Delhi Capitals 121 all out in 18.2 overs (Sameer Rizvi 39; Mitchell Santner 3-11, Jasprit Bumrah 3-12) by 59 runs.
Picture Courtesy: IANS
