Delhi won the battle of attrition against five-time title winners Mumbai on Sunday afternoon at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai, winning their opening clash of the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 by 4 wickets and 10 balls to spare and grab two points that were on offer.
Delhi's win over Mumbai was also not surprising given that this is the 10th time since 2013 that most successful team in the tournament, with five title wins to their credit, had lost an opening game. Mumbai are known for traditionally being slow-starters, something that has worked in their favour more often than not.
One of the most improved teams in the Indian T20 Cricket League competition, Delhi found unlikely heroes with the bat in all-rounder Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav who added 75 runs unbeaten for the seventh wicket to help their side chase down a target of 178 in hot and humid conditions in one of India's oldest and grand cricket venues.
In reply to Mumbai's total of 177/5 which was powered by a brilliant 81 from wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan, Delhi suffered a mini batting collapse of sorts in the middle overs which pushed to the brink, following which Patel and Yadav led the rescue act to hand Delhi a morale-boosting win at the start of the long season, which will have a total of 70 league matches before four teams advance to the knockout stage.
Delhi recovered from a precarious position of 104/6 in 13.2 overs and eventually finished at 179/6 from 18.2 overs, winning by 4 wickets in hand and 10 balls to spare thanks to a brilliant onslaught from bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, who hammered 3 sixes and a couple of boundaries to score 38 not out from 17 balls. At the other end, the lesser-known Lalit Yadav proved his worth with a superb 48 not out, for which he consumed 38 balls, hit 3 boundaries and sent two over the ropes.
For that matter, Delhi were also served well bye to unlikely heroes with the ball as Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav delivered a quality spell to return with 4-0-18-3 — a spell in which he accounted for the likes of R Sharma (41), Anmolpreet Singh (8) and Kieron Pollard (3).
In his first match for a new franchisee, the left-arm India seamer Khaleel Ahmed was as impressive as any, returning with 4-0-27-2, with his victims being Tim David (12) and Tilak Varma (22).
Playing their first match after the mega auction which saw the exit of Hardik and Krunal Pandya, who along with Pollard used to follow a heavy batting lineup for Mumbai were also without the services of Suryakumar Yadav on Sunday. It was imperative for their middle-order to deliver after the top had done its job.
The pair of R Sharma and Ishan Kishan provided Mumbai with a strong platform, adding 67 runs from 8.2 overs before they were separated. Mumbai captain R Sharma showcased his rich form, hammering 4 boundaries and 2 sixes to make 41 from 32 balls but the hero of Mumbai innings was the costliest player of this year's tournament, Ishan Kishan.
The aggressive left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman had no mercy on Delhi bowlers as he clobbered 11 boundaries and a couple of sixes to remain unbeaten on 81 from 48 balls while also dealing with an injury to his leg towards the end of the innings.
The 19-year-old Tilak Yadav did well to make 22 from 15 balls with 3 boundaries but Pollard and to an extent, David, disappointed. Mumbai still finished with a competitive total on board and they had plenty of promise in their bowling to trouble any opposition with it.
Tim Seifert gave a strong example of his promise hitting 4 boundaries to make 21 from 14 balls before he was snaffled by Murugan Ashwin, who was very impressive for Mumbai on Sunday. Ashwin also accounted for Mandeep Singh to cap off a fine spell of 4-0-14-2.
Prithvi Shaw dazzled once again with his short but impactful knock of 38, which included 4 boundaries and 2 sixes from 24 balls. However, Delhi were pushed to the brink by Mumbai bowlers as their middle-order could not chip in, with Mandeep Singh falling for a two-ball duck and captain Rishabh Pant making only 1 in his short stay.
Delhi were hurt further when the explosive West Indies batsman Rovman Powell was removed from the equation by new Mumbai bowler Basil Thampi, who did not allow the Caribbean cricketer to open his account. Thampi, for that matter, was impressive in his first game, returning with 4-0-35-3.
Former Chennai player and now Delhi's trusted man, Shardul Thakur was ordinary with the ball but he gave a glimpse of hope to his side with a brisk innings of 22 which came from 11 balls and 4 boundaries. But continuous fall of wickets meant Delhi were always behind in the chase until the pair of Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav got together.
Axar Patel was belligerent in his innings against Mumbai bowlers whereas Lalit Yadav played a calculated knock to help their side register victory in the first match from a position of loss, something that would certainly give a lot of pleasure and confidence to their head coach Ricky Ponting, who has been in search of a title win for a few seasons now.
Both Delhi and Mumbai will get a decent amount of break before they hit the field again. Both these teams will be seen in action on next Saturday, April 2 with Delhi facing Gujarat in the evening game whereas Mumbai taking on Rajasthan earlier in the afternoon match.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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