Although T20 is a small margin format, Delhi Capitals was made to feel how removing even one link can leave a carefully constructed structure shaky. The table holders and the champion Mumbai Indians (No. 2 in the table) were well matched in bowling, but Rishabh Pant’s injury meant Alex Carey had to enter as the fourth foreign player to take on the maintenance duties. He kept Shimron Hetmyer out, knocking out two power hitters from the 11, while Ajinkya Rahane got a game.
Just as the Capitals, choosing to hit, was switching gears through Marcus Stoinis, he was left without him in a mix-up with Shikhar Dhawan. The starter was 69 not out, but the consistency of the MI bowlers and the inability of DC batsmen to hit punches saw 18 deliveries with no limits in the final phase. (Total IPL coverage 2020)
That left DC defending just 162/4, not much, even on a slow pitch from Abu Dhabi. He left his versatile bowling attack to the task of taming IM’s solid batting formation. In the end, IM’s power shots brought them to 166/5 in 19.4 overs. MI replaced DC at the top of the table in a better net execution rate. One fact was how the captain, IM captain Rohit Sharma, and the rising star, DC captain Shreyas Iyer, would do it. Sharma fell to the slow field, hole-punching Axar Patel early. Iyer also spun, caught the brilliant Krunal Pandya, but only after he once again underscored the allure of orthodox hitting at T20.
Quinton de Kock didn’t hold back, unleashing powerful shots to give MI a good start, reaching his second fifty of the 2020 IPL with 33 balls (53-36b, 4×4, 3×6). He skipped R Ashwin into the middle of deep field, having crossed after the pitcher dropped Suryakumar Yadav.
Yadav cashed in, reaching his second fifty in a row. It was peppered with powerful sweeps and slashes, while the overhead shots were de Kock’s route to the fence. Kagiso Rabada had caught Yadav and Stoinis had Hardik Pandya for a duck. Ishan Kishen’s 28 brought MI closer, and although DC managed to keep Pollard in check and Anrich Nortje gave up just three runs in the 19th, MI knocked out the last seven runs with two balls remaining.
Short scores: DC 162/4 (S Dhawan 69, S Iyer 42). MI 166/5 (Kock’s Q 53, S Yadav 53).
.
