IPL 2021: Match 46, MI vs DC – Who Said What

Delhi Capitals defeated Mumbai Indians by four wickets in a low-scoring affair by four wickets in Sharjah to solidify their chances of a top-two finish, while Mumbai Indians are increasingly lagging in keeping up with the pace.

On Saturday, they were able to only set 130 for Delhi to win, which the latter chased on the back of some sensible batting from Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin, who ensured their team recovered well after a jittery start that saw them lost each one of the top-order players in Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw and Steve Smith for single-digit scores.

Mumbai themselves struggled for the larger part of their innings, with Axar Patel and Avesh Khan bagging six wickets amongst them. Suryakumar Yadav, with his 33 off 26, top-scored for Mumbai, while small bits by Saurabh Tiwary (15), Hardik (17) and Krunal Pandya (13) before Jayant Yadav’s (11) late acceleration took them to 129.

During the chase, each one of Mumbai’s bowlers picked a wicket keeping aside Kieron Pollard, but Iyer’s run-a-ball 33 and Ashwin’s 21-ball 20 took them across the line in the last over. (Read full report here)

Winning skipper Rishabh Pant:

In Sharjah, the wicket always plays differently. Yes, it’s a hard-fought victory. We were planning to bowl mostly the fast bowlers in the powerplay. Easier for the spinner in these tracks. I held back one over of Ashwin to keep him away from Pollard and Hardik. Avesh is the find of the season for us, but at Delhi Capitals, we learn from our mistakes and pick up. We have to solidify our batting. Stoinis should be fine in a few days, and that will be good for us. You can’t always go for it, but someone has to be aggressive in the powerplay.

Losing skipper Rohit Sharma:

 We always knew it was going to be a difficult venue. We watched a lot of games and we do understand that it isn’t the easiest of the grounds to play and get those runs you want. We came prepared, we knew exactly what to expect from the conditions, we spoke of those as to how we need to go about when we bat. We didn’t bat well, we didn’t create those partnerships, we always knew that it wasn’t a 170-180 wicket, we knew 140 is a par score here. We just couldn’t get the partnerships going. If your batters are not going to put runs on the board, it’s going to be difficult to win games consistently. We have struggled with our batting this season, I personally accept that. But I don’t want to take anything away from the guys, we are preparing very well. We are just not able to execute in the middle, a little disappointing. We just look to play the game we are known to, something’s missing in our game. We are not playing to our potential that we are known for, that is something that is missing in the UAE leg. Hopefully in the next two games we can come out and play the way we are known for.

Player of the Match Axar Patel:

I am able to read the batter more easily and can plan better. If I can think about what the batter is doing and deny them the ideal ball, I can be more successful. (On de Kock’s wicket) I thought he would go for the slog sweep or through cover. That’s why I hung it out there for him to hit. I think there’s no need to experiment when some of the simple things are working better.

Shreyas Iyer:

I felt really amazing to bat through and take my team through. It was a low scoring game. I backed myself and my instincts. I knew I would win the game for the team. (On Ashwin’s role) He came in and was really positive. He wanted to take singles, and that went to the last two overs. He decided he would take the bowlers on during the last two overs. The transition in the last two years has happened. Since 2019, we have shifted that towards our team. We try to implement that within the dressing room. We try to be humble, and we try to ensure whoever’s day it is, he makes sure the team wins the game. (On the first championship and how they can get there) Once we are in these close games, we have to finish them. Every two points matter. If we finish in the top two, we have that opportunity to play that one game and make the final.