A brilliant display of death bowling coupled by a superb showing from the top order saw Mumbai beat Delhi by five wickets and climb to the summit of the Indian T20 League standings.
Here are the key talking points from the contest:
Suryakumar's sensational knock
Having come in to bat with the scoreboard reading 31/1 after five overs, Suryakumar Yadav was expected to be a bit tentative, but the flashy batsman was anything but in his knock of 53 off 32 balls that reduced the equation to a effectively a-run-a-ball. Kumar hit six fours and one towering six in his knock of 53 and was awarded the Man of the Match for his scintillating knock.
Dhawan's good run against Mumbai continues
Over the years, Shikhar Dhawan has been terrific against Mumbai and scored 664 runs against the side. He was yet again brilliant against them, scoring 69 off 52 balls, batting the entire innings for his side. Despite hitting six boundaries and a six, Dhawan only recorded a strike rate of 132.69, rather low considering that he batted close to nine overs.
Mumbai’s brilliant bowling at the death
Delhi were well-placed at 127/3 at the end of the 16th over and had two set batsmen on the crease looking poised to take their team to a huge total. However, a gaffe between the two batsmen effected a run out which ended Delhi's momentum and some tight bowling from Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah saw Delhi finish with only 162 on the board. Despite having seven wickets in hand, the team from the capital could only muster 35 runs in the final 24 balls which proved to be their downfall in the contest.
Reigning champions now the favourites?
In what was a match between the two favourites to win the title, Mumbai were clinical, ruthless and jogged their way to an easy victory to not only beat Delhi but also usurp them at the top of the table. Delhi will point to the absence of Rishab Pant, a big impact-maker at the death for the team, however, Mumbai still were a class above Delhi in all three departments – batting, bowling and fielding – and have now registered four wins on the trot. Mumbai were among the favourites at the start of the season, but after that masterful display, they may be the overwhelming favourites to retain their crown.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter.com / Indian T20 League
