DC vs MI | Karn crashes Karun’s fairytale comeback party to end DC’s perfect run in nailbiter

Asked to bat first on a batting haven, Mumbai Indians got off to a stellar start with two Ryan Rickelton boundaries and a maximum in the first two overs before Rohit Sharma got into the act by replicating the haul in a single over against Mitchell Starc. However, the ideal start did not last long as the former skipper once against spurned a good start by getting plumb in front by Vipraj Nigam, even though the duo’s 47-run stand was enough for a formidable powerplay score of 59/1. Even once the fielding restrictions lifted, Rickelton and Suryakumar Yadav showed no restraint and pummelled Vipraj for 14 runs, leaving Kuldeep Yadav to take revenge with a gorgeous googly to dismantle Rickelton’s middle-stump. Nevertheless, the scalp only reunited one of the most successful pairings in recent times as Tilak Varma strutted out into the middle, and combined with his national team captain to add 60 runs off just 33 deliveries, albeit several missed chances from DC definitely played a major role. When the hosts did finally cling onto one to dispatch Suryakumar for 40 in the 14th over, they also added Hardik Pandya to their tally six deliveries later for good measure as two quiet overs left MI at 146/4 after 15. It still was not enough to stop the batting juggernaut given Tilak soon brought up a 26-ball half-century, his second of the season, while Naman Dhir dealt in boundaries throughout his unbeaten 17-ball 38 to take nearly 60 off the last five overs and set a respectable target of 206.

The chase began on an ominous note when Jake-Fraser McGurk chipped Deepak Chahar’s first ball straight to short cover to depart for a golden duck and continue his woeful form, prompting the hosts to spring a surprise on their unsuspecting opponents and get in Karun Nair as their Impact Player over the usually fancied Sameer Rizvi. Nair repaid the faith with three fours off Trent Boult in the second over, exceeded expectations by taking 11 off Jasprit Bumrah’s opening effort soon after, and then had the world on notice with two maximums in the pacer’s next go-around worth 20 runs to bring up a 22-ball half-century — his first in the IPL in seven years. With the powerplay score thus reading 72/1, Pandya was desperate to change the momentum and brought on a new impact sub of their in Karn Sharma but the move did little to restrain Nair as the Test triple-centurion struck two fours and three more sixes to have DC sitting pretty at 113/1 at the halfway stage. Abhishek Porel, who so far was content playing second-fiddle, tried to get into the act with a maximum off Karn, but holed out the very next ball to offer MI some respite. The relief faded fast when Nair added three more fours over the nex seven balls until Mitchell Santner delivered one off the balls of the tournament to peg back the off-stump and leave the batter 11 short of a maiden IPL ton. Nevertheless, the requirement by now read a relatively simple 66 off the final eight overs, and the asking rate only dwindled further when Axar Patel hit two boundaries early in his knock. However, Bumrah struck back by getting a leading edge off his compatriot before Karn used a changed ball to scalp both KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs in his next two overs, bringing the match back on an even keel. Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj thus found themselves together at the crease again, much like against LSG, with 46 to get from 27 deliveries. And much like that day, the two maintained patience and took just six off Boult, before Vipraj introduced Santenr into his final over with a maximum and a six. However, Santner yet again delivered a fitting riposte to have his rival stumped, and DC found themselves requiring 23 off the final two with Bumrah set to bowl out. Ashutosh confidently refused to take a single on the first ball, and backed it up with two boundaries, but three run-outs in as many deliveries saw Mumbai take home the win in dramatic fashion.