IPL 2021: Delhi pip MI in low-scoring chase to qualify for playoffs

:-K Aditya

Sharjah:Delhi Capitals became the second team to qualify for the playoffs after defeating the defending champions Mumbai Indians by four wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

The victory for Delhi came in the final over with Shreyas Iyer (33* runs) and R Ashwin (21*) coming to the team's rescue after a top-order collapse.

This was Mumbai's fourth loss in the last five games of the UAE phase of the tournament and are now staring at an early exit in the season as they slumped to sixth place in the points table with just 10 points in 12 matches. Delhi, on the other hand, have qualified for the playoffs with already-qualified Chennai Super Kings, who are playing Rajasthan Royals tonight.

Earlier in the day, Delhi made early gains after asking MI to bat first. A fiery bowling spell by Avesh Khan (3/15) halted the flow of runs with the new ball while Axar Patel (3/21) did the damage in the second half of the innings to restrict MI at 129/7 on a pitch that provided no pace to the batters to bank on. Barring Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 26), none of the MI batsmen managed to go past the 20-run figure with the next best being Quinton de Kock's 19.

MI skipper Rohit Sharma disappointed as well with a 7-ball 8 while DC spinner Ashwin proved expensive with the ball, giving away 41 runs in four overs while picking the wicket of Jayant Yadav (11 off 4).

Chasing the total, Delhi top-order collapsed as well with the first four batsmen departing after adding just 57 runs in nine overs. Shikhar Dhawan (8 off 7) was the first to fall after getting run out of a direct hit by Kieron Pollard.

Prithvi Shaw (6 off 7) was trapped lbw in the next over by Krunal Pandya while Steve Smith (9 off 8) was castled by Nathan Coulter-Nile in the fifth over. DC captain Rishabh Pant (26 off 22) made an attempt to add pace to the chase with three boundaries and a six but soon fell prey to spinner Jayant Yadav, who had him caught at the long-on.

Half of Delhi's side was then back in the dugout after scoring 77 runs in 11.4 overs with Patel (9 off 9) trapped plumb lbw by Trent Boult.

Shimron Hetmyer (15 off 8) used a counter-attacking approach to tackle MI bowlers but met the same fate as his captain with Jasprit Bumrah claiming a wicket for the night.

Shreyas Iyer, who witnessed the batting collapse from the other end, didn't let the MI bowlers get under his skin and forged a dominant partnership of unbeaten 37 runs (36 balls) with Ashwin to bring the two points home. The match-winning run came from Ashwin's bat as he hit Krunal for a six on the the very first ball of the last over.(UNI)