IPL 2021, MI vs DC: Delhi pulls off a thriller despite wobbly start, thanks to Iyer-Ashwin's composure

Delhi Capitals was back to its winning ways even under pressure circumstances, as it squeezed past Mumbai Indians by four wickets in the IPL 2021 clash in Sharjah on Saturday.

It was yet another heartbreak for defending champion Mumbai Indians (MI), as it was beaten by Delhi Capitals (DC) by four wickets in Match 46 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The win has sealed DC's place in the top two, while MI's bid for playoffs has taken a severe hit.

DC elected to bowl to win the toss, as skipper Pant brought in Prithvi Shaw for Lalit Yadav, while MI skipper Rohit Sharma brought in Jayant Yadav for Rahul Chahar. MI was off to a nervous start, losing Rohit (7) in the second over pacer Avesh, with just eight runs on the board.

Nevertheless, it was followed by a 29-run stand between opener Quinton de Kock (19) and Suryakumar Yadav (33) before the latter fell to spinner Axar Patel in the seventh over, followed by the latter, 31 runs later, to the same man in the 11th. MI continued to lack enough promising stands, as it lost wickets every 15 to 20 odd runs.

Four batsmen entered double figures among the incoming batsmen, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya (17) scoring the most in this phase. The pitch seemed slow, as MI managed to finish on 129/8.

DC put five bowlers into the attack, with pacer Avesh Khan and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claiming three each. Also, it was the former who was the most economical of all.

As DC came out for the chase, it was off to a hugely delicate start, losing three in the Powerplay (Shikhar Dhawan- 8, Prithvi Shaw- 6 & Steven Smith- 9), with 30 runs on the board. Pant (26) and Iyer (33*) looked to stabilise the chase, as the former departed to pacer Jayant in the ninth over, 27 runs later.

Axar (9) fell just 20 runs later to Boult, who trapped him leg-before in the 12th, while he was followed by Shimron Hetmyer (15), 16 runs later, to pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the 14th. However, Iyer and Ashwin (20*) took control of the innings there and kept the run rate going.

Ashwin hit the winning runs in the opening delivery of the final over off spinner Krunal Pandya as it sailed into the stands for six, handing DC a four-wicket win. MI used six bowlers, with mostly an evenly effort, while Boult was the best with his economy.
Brief scores: MI 129/8 (Yadav- 33; Avesh- 3/15, Axar- 3/21) lost to DC 129/8 in 19.1 overs (Iyer- 33; Krunal- 1/18) by four wickets.