IPL 2022: Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel pull off a heist as Delhi Capitals deny Mumbai Indians a winning start

Mumbai, March 27: Lalit Yadav played the best knock of his IPL career and helped Delhi Capitals pull off a heist from behind and beat Mumbai Indians by four wickets in their opening game of IPL 2022 here at Brabourne Stadium on Sunday (March 27).

It was the unbroken 75-run-stand off 30 deliveries between Lalit and Axar Patel for the seventh wicket which turned the tide for Delhi. Lalit (48* off 38) and Axar (38* off 17) attacked Mumbai's indisciplined bowling in the death overs and overhauled the target with eight balls to spare.

MI thus once again failed to win an opening game in the IPL as their bowling was a major letdown for the five-time champions. With this, the first doubleheader of the tournament finished on a high as the fortune kept switching sides in the game.

Openers Prithvi Shaw and Tim Seifert gave Delhi a decent start in the run chase of 178 as the duo put up a stand of 30 runs for the first wicket. Seifert - who was included in the playing eleven as David Warner's replacement till the Aussie is available - was striking the ball brilliantly before he was outfoxed by leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin in his first over. Ashwin then gave Delhi another jolt in the same over when he dismissed Mandeep Singh for a duck and derailed Delhi's charge.

Since then, the Mumbai Indians bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals to keep the chasing side under the pump. Soon, captain Rishabh Pant (1) and all-rounder Rovman Powell left the team in the lurch with poor shot selection.

When set Prithvi Shaw was dismissed for 38 in the 10th over bowled by Basil Thampi, it all seemed over for Delhi. Just when the game looked slipping away from their grip, Lalit, Shardul Thakur provided the impetus with a quick partnership of 32 off 22 deliveries for the sixth wicket and kept Delhi in the hunt.

After Shardul's cameo of 11-ball 22 ended, Lalit was joined by Axar and the duo forged a massive partnership to help their team pull off a fantastic run chase.

The duo milked 24 runs from the 18th over bowled by Daniel Sams and brought their team on the cusp of victory. With four required from the remaining 12 deliveries, it was merely a formality for the chasing side. Finally, Axar hit the winning runs for Delhi when he got a boundary off Jasprit Bumrah towards fine leg.

Earlier in the day, Ishan Kishan justified his big price tag after the explosive MI' opener hammered an unbeaten 81 off 48 balls to guide his team to 177-5 after being put in to bat first.

Ishan and captain Rohit Sharma gave Mumbai a fine start by sharing a stand of 67 off 50 deliveries. Delhi Capitals' chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav derailed Mumbai's charge as he picked up three crucial wickets in the middle overs. The left-arm spinner - playing his first game for DC - returned with impressive figures of 3-18.

Left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed - who made his debut for DC - also impressed with his performance by returning with 2-27.

Mumbai Indians' kept losing wickets at the other end but Ishan was unfazed by that and kept the scoreboard ticking and punishing those loose deliveries.

The left-handed batter notched up his 10th IPL fifty off just 34 deliveries when he hit Axar Patel for a maximum. Playing a sensible knock, the southpaw along with some cameos from Tilak Verma, Tim David and Daniel Sams Kishan ensured Mumbai posted a competitive 177-5 on the board.