Mumbai Indians becomes only the second team to defend the IPL title as they went on to defeat Delhi Capitals by
Mumbai Indians began the match well, thanks to Trent Boult who dismissed Marcus Stoinis in the first ball of the match. Then he managed to get rid of Rahane. A few overs later, Jayant Yadav dismissed Shikhar Dhawan.
The shaky start did not stop Pant and Iyer from going for a good partnership. Both the players found their way at the right time for the team and added 96 runs together. Coulter-Nile brought Mumbai back into the game by dismissing Pant for 56. Iyer, on the other hand, kept going and scored 65 to take his team to 156 in 20 overs. Of course, the team was at least 30 runs short. With the ball, Boult had 3 wickets and Coulter-Nile had 2.
In return, Mumbai began well with both Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock attacking the bowlers. They even managed to score 18 runs from one of Rabada’s over. Four overs and 45 runs later, Stoinis dismissed de Kock in his first delivery. However, Suryakumar Yadav didn’t let the momentum slip as he went on to score a boundary and a six in the over.
Minutes later, a poor call from Rohit made Suryakumar to perform a selfless act where he let go of his wicket to save his captain’s.
Ishan Kishan then joined the skipper who went on to score yet another fifty in the final. Rohit was later dismissed for 68. When he was done, he didn’t leave a lot for the middle order to chase.
Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, went on to stand tall till the end and took his team home with a brilliant 33*. Mumbai, who dominated the whole season, deservingly crowned as the champions for one more time. For Delhi though it is a heartbreak but they will be back stronger next year for sure.
Sanjay Manjrekar reacts after being removed from BCCI commentary panel