IPL: Rohit Sharma pulls Mumbai Indians out of trouble

New Delhi, April 11

Rohit Sharma was at his vintage best en route his first IPL half-century in 25 innings before Mumbai Indians overcame some tense moments to pull off a last-ball win over Delhi Capitals here today.

1 Rohit Sharma was at his vintage best en route his first IPL half-century in 25 innings.

David Warner laboured to 51 off 47 balls before Axar Patel flaunted his much-improved batting skills again with an impactful 54 off 25 balls to push Delhi Capitals to a competitive 172 after Mumbai asked the hosts to bat.

With the pitch on the drier side compared to the first game here and finger spinners getting plenty of assistance from it, Mumbai had a tricky task at hand but with his classy 65 off 45 balls, Sharma helped his side record their first win of the season.

With Cameron Green (17 not out) and Tim David (13 not out) in the middle, Mumbai needed five runs off the last over but Anrich Nortje bowled brilliantly to take the game down to the very last ball. Warner got the required two off the final ball for a much-needed victory.

Promoted to No. 3, the in-form Tilak Varma came up with a crucial 41 off 29 balls and forged a 68-run stand with his skipper.

It was some relief for Mumbai after back-to-back defeats, while the season got worse for Delhi who suffered their fourth loss in as many games.

When Sharma charged down the track against pacer Mukesh Kumar in the first over of the innings to pull him for a six over midwicket, one could see a special knock coming.

There is no better puller in the game than him and that was on full display at the Feroz Shah Kotla. His second six was even better as he pulled Anrich Nortje off the front foot over wide long-on. Sharma’s biggest six came off a pull shot too as he smashed a short ball from Nortje for a massive hit over deep square leg.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals: 172 all out in 19.4 overs (Warner 51, Patel 54; Chawla 3/22, Jason Behrendorff 3/23); Mumbai Indians: 173/4 in 20 overs (Sharma 65, Varma 41; Mukesh 2/30). — PTI

Patience key for Suryakumar

Mumbai Indians’ batter Suryakumar Yadav needs to be a little more patient early on in his knock if he is to find a way out of his slump in the IPL, former India head coach Ravi Shastri said.

Suryakumar is the world’s top-ranked T20 batter but has found the going tough in recent times and was dismissed for three first-ball ducks in the home ODI series against Australia last month. The 32-year-old managed 15, 1 and 0 in his three outings for Mumbai.

“There’s going to be light at the end of the tunnel, he’s going to be seeing that very soon,” Shastri said. “So the advice to him would be just give yourself a little bit of time early on, even though it’s T20 cricket.” Reuters