Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel was fined Rs 12 lakh for maintaining slow over-rate during his team’s 12-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians in an IPL game.

Mumbai Indians’ ‘forever captain’ Rohit Sharma’s game-changing decision was carried out to perfection by ‘Impact Substitute’ Karn Sharma as they staged an all-time comeback with a 12-run win over Delhi Capitals here on Sunday to get their IPL season back on track.

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Delhi Capitals Collapse After Strong Start

Chasing a target of 206, Karun Nair’s brilliant 40-ball-89 went in vain as Delhi Capitals, who were cruising along at 119 for one just after the halfway stage, ended on 193 in 19 overs after an eventful penultimate over which saw three run outs and two boundaries.

Rohit, the tactician extraordinaire, signalled his coach Mahela Jayawardene to bring in Karn and requested a change of balls post the 11th over.

And there was sudden turn in the ball as Mitchell Santner’s fairy-tale ball troubled Nair’s off-stick and Karn took three wickets for 36 on wrist spinners dominated day.

Delhi Capitals Batting Falters Under Pressure

After KL Rahul, not famous for handling pressure situations on slightly slowish tracks, got deceived by a typical leg-break by Karn, which flew high, the DC batting began to collapse.

Ultimately, MI’s stunning ground fielding asserted itself as three run outs brought Delhi Capitals’s stunning winning streak to an end.

This is the type of win which lifts your spirits and Rohit’s comment regarding the changing track and introduction of spinners on a day when Jasprit Bumrah was off-color worked.

Karun Nair Shines Despite Delhi Capitals Loss Against Mumbai

For DC, Nair, who is one of India’s sole two Test triple centurions but was down and out until the beginning of the 2024-25 domestic season, proved to be the proverbial phoenix, rising from the ashes with stupendous performance on the day.

The pull off Bumrah over square-leg and the lofted off-drive for six in the seventh over had left the bowler stunned and two further sixes off MI skipper Hardik Pandya had the audience craving for more.

But Santner had placed one on middle stump, made it turn away and squared up the batter, and it was definitely the turning point as far as MI were concerned.

Mumbai Indians Set Strong Target with the Bat

Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav’s craft was nicely supplemented by young leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam’s cheerful ability to take wickets before Tilak Varma’s charming half-century guided Mumbai Indians to 205 for 5 in 20 overs.

Tilak (59 off 33 balls) was the lone MI batsman to take advantage of a good beginning, scoring six fours and three sixes and making up for his low scores in some of the previous games. Naman Dheer (38 not out off 17 balls) then employed the long handle to support the total.

Spin Duo Stifle Mumbai Indians Batting

On a pitch where stroke-making was not that challenging, the two Uttar Pradesh wrist spinners took four wickets between them while conceding 64 runs in their eight overs, which can be described as brilliant given the conditions.

The two spinners actually slowed down the pace of their bowling, enabling them to grip off the surface slightly and some of the MI batsmen died while attempting dangerous shots.

Rohit’s (18 off 12 balls) miserable IPL form went on as young Vipraj (2/41 in 4 overs) got him plumb in-front with a googly which he missed while attempting to play a slog sweep over the cow-corner. He has 56 runs from five innings now.

For Vipraj, it is some sort of an achievement to get Virat Kohli and Rohit in consecutive games.

Kuldeep Strikes at Key Moments Against Mumbai Indians

Rohit’s new partner Ryan Rickleton (41 off 25 balls) did spark some fire but the experience Kuldeep (2/23 from 4 overs) seemed to have hung a string in the white Kookaburra and he played around its length like yo-yo.

Kuldeep got to flight his balls, there was late dipping action and Rickleton met his end attempting to play for turn but it was flipper straight in his case.

In the case of Suryakumar Yadav (40 off 27 balls), who had just begun to look threatening, Kuldeep slowed down the pace and bowled the googly as the bat face turned in the case of India’s T20 captain. The outcome was an easy catch in the deep.

Tilak and Naman then put on 62 runs in 5.3 overs overs to take the side beyond 200-run mark, which ultimately turned out to be sufficient.