DC vs MI: Karn Sharma’s instant impact brings Mumbai Indians back on winning track in Delhi | Ipl News

A fine innings from Karun Nair and a fine spell from Kuldeep were not enough as Delhi Capitals implode to lose to Mumbai Indians 12 runs in their first match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.In the very first game of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in New Delhi, there was an exhibition of big hitting, some exceptional spin bowling, a stream of India stars, and a topsy-turvy thriller that sat on a knife-edge for most of its running time. It will be a hard one to top.
The jubilant celebrations at the end were proof of how much this victory meant to the Mumbai Indians. On a bad run of form, they came into this match against the only unbeaten side so far in the tournament and rode the punches they took, before seizing the important moments in the end as Delhi collapsed to hand the five-time champs a 12-run victory at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Sunday.
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Woeful run goes on
Rohit Sharma would hit his highest score of the tournament so far on Sunday. The dread plastered on his face as he trudged back to the dugout was more indicative of his form than the 12-ball 18 he had managed on the day.
After Rohit nailed Mitchell Starc for a square drive and a lofted cover drive for four with an ill-timed reverse hit that was top-edged and went for six in between, a few things became clear. On these flat tracks and small boundaries, Starc’s pace and swing may not be as effective in taking wickets as it is in leaking runs.
And after Rohit had shown that both timing and fortune were on his side, it gave the impression that this was the night, conditions in his favour and a start established, that runs may be coming.
But as Rohit woefully went early on a slog sweep to a length ball from the young leggie Vipraj Nigam, and the subsequent DRS gave him his marching orders, the creeping feeling that India’s Test captain may have already seen his best days with his franchise would continue to linger after he left the capital.Story continues below this ad
Kuldeep chokes momentum
Before and after Rohit’s dismissal, it was Ryan Rickleton’s offence that kept Mumbai ticking nicely until Kuldeep Yadav was brought on. Kuldeep struck immediately, a wonderful flighted googly that foxed Rickleton totally, his square cut still in an arch when his middle stump went missing. A special delivery that summed up a special spell.
In between overs, Axar Patel bounced around the ground like the new captain that he is; constantly indulging in conversations and twitching at the prospect of tweaking the field and affecting the game. Where he got it right, though, was his usage of Kuldeep, sprinkling his best bowler into the middle to arrest the momentum that Mumbai were gaining.

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Kuldeep Yadav beats Ryan Rickelton’s defense with a superb delivery
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The left-arm wr-spinner’s spell of 2/23 was not quite indicative of the way he affected this game; first with the wicket of Rickleton and then with that of Suryakumar Yadav just when he had looked particularly dangerous in a partnership with Tilak Varma. Kuldeep’s economy of 5.75 was far the best on this terrible day for bowlers across both teams.
On Tilak’s shoulders, with a fine Naman Dhir cameo, Mumbai would inch to the total of 205. Not only did he manage Kuldeep and milk him for a couple of boundaries, but his movement on the crease and manipulation of the field against the spinners was impenetrable. Against the pacers, he would res the urge to play across the line in this short ground, even hitting a couple of aesthetically-pleasing drives.
Nair bosses Bumrah
If Deepak Chahar’s first ball wicket of Jake Fraser-McGurk had given Mumbai the glimmer of hope that they had enough runs on the board, the end of the powerplay, Karun Nair had unleashed an elegant assault that would have dampened expectations for those in blue and gold.Story continues below this ad
It was not merely the runs that Nair amassed but against whom he got them. Japrit Bumrah may be undercooked after recovering from injury but he remains the most intimidating fast bowler in the world. Nair swatted him aside with a graceful ease that brought this boerous Delhi crowd to its feet in a way that the blaring Punjabi music could not.

Karun Nair thrilled Delhi with a scintillating knock of 89(40)
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The key to playing Bumrah can quite often be to meet the ball as late as possible due to his unpredictability, thanks to the unorthodox action and his plethora of deliveries. Nair aced the challenge. He greeted Bumrah with a sweetly-timed cover drive, going inside out to meet the fullish delivery. Later, he would flick a stray length ball off his hips for a six, move his feet expertly to square cut the classic Bumrah low full toss for four, and, in the pick of the bunch, again went inside out for an outrageous six over extra cover.
the time Nair rolled to his half century in just 22 balls, Bumrah had been rocked for 29 runs from his first two overs and Delhi were 72/1 after the powerplay.
The onslaught did not stop there. As classically good as Nair had been, he whipped out some of the shots from the T20 manual too, switch-hitting Karn Sharma’s off-breaks for a six, or reverse sweeping Hardik Pandya’s attempted yorkers over the short square boundaries here. He nicely kept the boundaries coming, keeping Delhi’s momentum ahead of the run chase.
Delhi implode
But following Nair’s departure after an expertly-made 40-ball 89, Delhi simply could not keep that momentum up. With too many wickets falling with regularity, after the chase had been set up perfectly Nair, the home side imploded.Story continues below this ad
Bumrah was sent in as damage-limitation shortly after Nair’s dismissal, and after Axar had charged down the ground to smash him over long off for four, it had seemed like Delhi would canter to the victory. But Bumrah would bite back, taking Axar’s wicket and conceding only five runs from that over. Karn would scalp both Stubbs and the in-form KL Rahul in similar fashion, seeing their mishits caught.

That’s how you make an
Karn Sharma with two crucial wickets to turn this game into a thriller #DC need 23 from 12 deliveries.
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After getting two boundaries from Bumrah in the penultimate over, Ashutosh looked like he is capable of pulling off a rescue act like the one he did against Lucknow Super Giants in Delhi’s opener. But going for an non-exent second run would cost him his wicket as two more run outs off the next two successive deliveries meant Delhi lost a game 12 runs when they needed 61 runs from the final seven overs. Mumbai rode home to a confidence-boosting victory with an over to spare, one that may get their season back on track.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indian 205/5 in 20 overs (Tilak 59; Kuldeep 2/23) beat Delhi Capitals 193 19 overs (Karun 89; Karn 3/36) 12 runs.