Delhi Capitals recover to beat Mumbai Indians in IPL

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Axar Patel smacked 38 not out off 17 balls as Delhi Capitals recovered to beat Mumbai Indians by four wickets with 10 balls to spare in their opening match in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.

Delhi scored 179-6 in 18.2 overs for its third straight league-stage victory over Mumbai in the IPL. Patel hit two fours and three sixes, putting on 75 off only 30 balls for the unbroken seventh wicket with Lalit Yadav, who was 48 not out off 38 deliveries.

Opener Ishan Kishan’s 81 not out off 48 balls had helped Mumbai reach 177-5 in 20 overs after being asked to bat at Brabourne Stadium.

“I thought it was a good score. It didn’t look like a pitch where you can get 170-plus at the start but we played well in the middle (overs) and finished well,” Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma said. “But we didn’t bowl according to our plans.”

Mumbai made a superb start with Kishan and Sharma putting on 67 runs for the first wicket.

Sharma scored 41 off 32, including four fours and two sixes, before he was caught off Kuldeep Yadav (3-18).

Kishan, the left-handed opener bought by Mumbai Indians for almost $2 million, reached his half-century off 34 balls.

Overall, Kishan faced 48 deliveries and hit 11 fours and two sixes. He put on 34 with Tilak Varma (22) for the third wicket.

Kishan anchored the innings with lower-order batters for company and pushed Mumbai to a competitive total on a small ground. The final four overs yielded 54 runs.

In reply, Delhi got off to a quick start. Tim Seifert hit 21 off 14 balls with four fours as he put on 30 runs for the first wicket with Prithvi Shaw.

Shaw scored 38 off 24 and held the innings together as Delhi lost three wickets in five deliveries at the other end.

Seifert was bowled by Murugan Ashwin (2-14) and, two balls later, Mandeep Singh was caught off a full toss for a duck.

The big blow came when Rishabh Pant holed out for only 1 off 2 balls and Delhi was reduced to 32-3 in 4.1 overs. Tymal Mills claimed Pant’s wicket and picked up 1-26 in three overs.

Basil Thampi (3-35) struck twice in the 10th over. He had Shaw caught and then big-hitting Rovman Powell holed out for a two-ball duck.

Delhi was down to 72-5, and Thampi made it 104-6 in 13.2 overs as he dismissed Shardul Thakur.

Thakur’s 22 off 11 balls, though, gave Delhi momentum.

Patel hit two fours and three sixes, while Yadav smacked four fours and two sixes as Mumbai couldn’t handle their whirlwind partnership.

Yadav and Patel had come together with 74 runs needed off 40 balls, and Delhi won with almost two overs to spare.

HIGH-SCORING MATCH

Punjab Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets, with an over to spare, in Sunday’s second game. It was a high-scoring contest at the DY Patil Stadium with 413 runs scored in 39 overs.

Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis hit 88 off 57 balls, with three fours and seven sixes, to help his side to a total of 205-2 after being asked to bat. In reply, Punjab reached 208-5 in 19 overs.

Virat Kohli contributed 41 not out off 29 balls for Bangalore, including a four and two sixes. Dinesh Karthik hit 32 not out off 14 balls as Bangalore made good use of the batting-friendly strip.

Punjab enjoyed a good start by its top order. Skipper Mayank Agarwal scored 32 off 24, with contributions from Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 29) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (43 off 22) taking the team to 118-2 in 11.2 overs.

But Mohammed Siraj (2-59) hit back with a double blow in the 14th over.

It wasn’t enough as Shahrukh Khan and Odean Smith came up with late fireworks and polished off the remaining runs required. Khan scored 24 not out off 20 balls, but it was Smith who stunned Bangalore into submission. He hit 25 not out off eight balls, including three tall sixes.

The duo put on 52 runs off 25 balls to give Punjab a winning start to its IPL season.

Monday’s IPL game is between new teams Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants.

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