Mumbai Indians did what they do best—score quickly upfront and go ballistic at the back end—to post 200/5 in 20 overs against Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2020 Qualifier 1 in Dubai.
Suryakumar Yadav continued his red-hot form, smashing his way to a 51 off 38 balls, to lay the foundation for Hardik Pandya (14-ball-37) and Ishan Kishan (30-ball 55) to send the DC bowlers on a leather hunt in the death overs.
The duo added 60 for the sixth wicket in only 3.5 overs.
While Ravichandran Ashwin (3/29 in 4 overs) shone brightly with his cerebral bowling, Shreyas Iyer's captaincy left a lot to be desired due to negative tactics as far as his pace department was concerned. Starting with left-arm seam of Daniel Sams (0/44 in 4 overs) badly backfired. Kagiso Rabada (0/42 in 4 overs) and Anrich Nortje (1/50 in 4 overs), too, had a forgettable day.
Mumbai Indians hit 15 fours and 12 sixes, a testimony to the number of bad balls bowled by the Capitals attack, especially their speed merchants, who were bowling short of length consistently.
At the start, Rohit Sharma (0)'s dodgy hamstring did play its part as Ashwin bowled an off-break and the MI captain didn't move his front foot enough to cover the spin and was adjudged leg before.
De Kock and Yadav, however, continued in full flow as the boundaries and sixes continued to flow from their blades during the 62-run stand in only 6.1 overs.
While De Kock was severe on anything bowled short or on his legs, Yadav's flowing drives off spin and pace were a treat for the eyes.
However, Ashwin's sharp cricketing mind came to the fore as he dismissed de Kock by simply shortened the length by a yard or two and the left-hander mistimed it to be holed by Shikhar Dhawan in the deep.
The veteran off-spinner once again won his battle of wits against Kieron Pollard by simply taking the pace off a flighted delivery which Kagiso Rabada smartly snapped up after sprinting some distance.
(With PTI inputs)
