IPL: Delhi Capitals restrict MI to 162/6

Stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav struck a patient half-century but Delhi Capitals bowlers dominated to restrict Mumbai Indians to a modest 162 for 6 in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.

Suryakumar anchored the innings with a 36-ball 51, hitting three fours and two sixes, while Rohit Sharma hit 35 even as other MI batters found it difficult in the middle.

Delhi’s bowlers, however, kept things tight.

Skipper Axar Patel was exceptional, conceding just 22 runs in his four overs and removing the dangerous Rohit Sharma.

Leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam (1/24 in 3 overs) chipped in with a wicket, while Kuldeep Yadav (0/31 in 3 overs) proved slightly expensive.

The pace trio of Mukesh Kumar (2/26), Lungi Ngidi (1/34) and T Natarajan (1/24) also played their part, sharing four wickets between them.

Mukesh struck early, removing the in-form Ryan Rickelton with a good-length delivery that was miscued to Axar at mid-off.

Two balls later, he produced a return catch to dismiss Tilak Varma for a duck, leaving Mumbai Indians two down inside the powerplay.

Rohit (35) and Suryakumar then steadied the innings with a 53-run partnership.

Rohit got going with the first six of the match, dispatching an overpitched ball from Nigam over long-on, while Suryakumar followed up with a maximum off the next delivery.

However, Delhi spinners tightened the screws soon after. Axar accounted for Rohit, who mistimed a shot to cover where Nitish Rana completed a fine catch.

Vipraj then dismissed Sherfane Rutherford (5), with Mukesh taking a good catch close to the boundary.

Suryakumar, leading in the absence of Hardik Pandya, tried to accelerate alongside Naman Dhir (28) as Mumbai crossed the 100-run mark. The pair targeted Kuldeep Yadav, collecting 15 runs in the 15th over, including two sixes.

But just after bringing up his fifty, Suryakumar was trapped leg-before by Ngidi, who cleverly took pace off the delivery.

Death over specialist Natarajan then dismissed Naman as MI continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.

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