 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Delhi Capitals were going well after winning the toss and electing to bat against the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, October 11.
Even though Delhi lost opener Prithvi Shaw early, Ajinkya Rahane, coming in at No 3, looked in fine nick. He played some crisp cover drives to help Delhi maintain a healthy run rate.
Rahane punished a wayward James Pattinson and played Trent Boult well in the one over he faced him. It looked like India's Test vice-captain was in for some big runs until MI Captain Rohit Sharma brought in Krunal Pandya.
The left-arm spinner struck nearly as soon as he was given the ball. The second ball of the over, Krunal bowls a flatter ball that hit Rahane right in the middle as he tried to play across the line.
Rahane (15 off 15) knew the outcome even before the umpire raised the finger.
Krunal kept bowling tight lines, giving away only singles in his overs.
Shreyas Iyer, who came in at No 4, then did well to strike a partnership of 86 runs with Shikhar Dhawan, putting a wonderful exhibition of T20 batting.
Krunal then struck again in the 15th over when he had Iyer pull the short ball towards mid-wicket only for Boult to complete a catch and end Iyer's fruitful stay (42 off 33) at the crease.
Rahane was looking good for a big one and Iyer would have upped the ante had he stayed on, but for Krunal doing them in.
Both dismissals cost Delhi dear. They could not up the tempo with just 51 runs coming in the last five overs.
Delhi Capitals were 20-25 runs short and Mumbai overhauled the target of 163, Krunal again doing the honours at the end.