New Delhi [India]: Karun Nair’s brilliant 89-run effort on his IPL comeback couldn’t prevent Delhi Capitals (DC) from suffering a heartbreaking 12-run loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) in their season opener at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. A dramatic late batting collapse, which included a rare hat-trick of run-outs, sealed DC’s fate as they were bowled out for 193 in 19 overs while chasing 206.
Following the win, MI skipper Hardik Pandya praised Nair’s exceptional knock and applauded Karn Sharma for his courageous bowling performance, especially given the challenge of bowling with short boundaries.
“He (Karun) was batting brilliantly, it seemed like it was going out of hand. (On Karn Sharma) Shows great character, to be brave and toss it up when the boundaries are just 60m long. We never gave up, we kept saying we want to stay in the contest. Everyone put their hand up and we were able to hold on to our chances,” Pandya said during the post-match presentation.
Explaining the logic behind the batting order, Hardik emphasized the importance of giving opportunities to players trying to regain form. He also acknowledged the impact of dew in the second innings, which made it challenging for the bowlers. Despite the conditions, MI’s resilience turned the tide in their favor.
“Wanted to get the players in form to face the most balls. Dew played a big factor later on, it got very dewy. Just by making sure the game is not over, ‘keep fighting’ was the chatter. We knew a couple of wickets would change the game. It has happened with me before as well, wins like this change the momentum and turn everything around,” Pandya added.
Earlier, Mumbai posted a competitive total of 205/5, powered by a classy half-century from Tilak Varma and valuable contributions from Suryakumar Yadav and Naman Dhir.
In response, DC got off to a nightmare start as Jake Fraser-McGurk continued his lean run, falling for a golden duck after lofting a catch to Will Jacks at cover off Deepak Chahar’s bowling.
While Nair played a lone hand with a stunning 89, only Abishek Porel managed to provide some support with a 33-run knock. The rest of the batting order faltered under pressure, and DC’s hopes were dashed with a stunning sequence of three run-outs in the final overs, the last of which saw Mohit Sharma run out for zero by Mitchell Santner.
This loss brought an end to DC’s four-game winning streak and pushed them to second place in the points table. Meanwhile, MI moved up to seventh with two wins and four losses, and a morale-boosting win to build upon.