It was their fourth win in a row, and their fifth overall, and each win erased those haunting memories of the United Arab Emirates in 2014, when they had lost all five matches in a row before the tournament moved to India.
SCOREKEEPER | POINTS TABLE
The MI bowlers did their job well restricting the Capitals to 162 for four, which built around an undefeated 69 (52b, 6×4, 1×6) per Shikhar dhawan and 42 of the Shreyas Iyer pattern (33b, 5×4).
Half a century since Suryakumar Yadav (53, 32b, 6×4, 1×6) and Quinton by Kock (53, 36b, 4×4, 3×6), and quick cameos by Ishan Kishan (28, 15b, 2×4, 2×6) and Krunal Pandya (12 not out, 7b, 2×4) then I saw them at home despite some setbacks.
In the end, they needed seven from the final, but two fours from Krunal Pandya versus Anrich Nortje sealed the problem. My lost pattern Rohit sharma early enough, and I stumbled a bit when Yadav and Hardik pandya he perished poorly shot. However, the middle order had enough firepower to navigate.
With Marcus stoinis being exhausted while looking for a second run on a long-time Suryakumar Yadav field error at a crucial juncture, the Capitals finished 15-20 short of a good total. There were also some outfield errors to be regretted later, particularly by Prithvi Shaw who added to the absence of the wicketkeeper. Rishabh pants, due to an injury to the hamstring. Pant’s injury could be a concern for the Indian team, which will also tour Australia in winter.
The Capitals also perhaps were wrong to leave out Shimron Hetmeyer, who had played a 23-ball 45 shot in the last game against Royals of Rajasthan. Hetmeyer, who can keep the wickets, could have replaced Pant behind the stumps.
Previously, Dhawan has shown that he brings much-needed stability to the side of the capitals at the top of the order, even though there is still a question mark about his hit rate. Having lost after reaching 30 three times in this tournament and wasting some good starts, the southpaw finally achieved his first fifty of the 2020 IPL.
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