11:45pm That will be all from us for tonight. We hope you enjoyed our coverage and we will be back with more IPL action tomorrow. Until then, from Ranjith and myself (Shashwat), this is goodbye!
Here’s Sampath with a stat. This is by far the earliest where the playoff spots being decided in an IPL season – with seven matches left to be played in league stage. The previous earliest was in 2011, with three matches to be played (At end of 67th match in a season of 70 league games).
Suryakumar Yadav, Player of the Match: It has been thirteen games now, my wife told me a sweet story. She said I have gotten all the awards but not the POTM award. This award is really special today. From the team’s point of view, the knock was important today. And this trophy is for her (my wife), and it was important (for me) to play till the end. She waits for such moments and we celebrate it when we go back, so really looking forward to it. It was really important for a single batter to bat till the end – we knew there was a 15-20 run over somewhere. The way Naman came in and shared that energy with me. Good five days ahead (having qualified).
Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians captain: (On if it is a luxury to have Bumrah and Santner) Absolutely. I can throw them the ball whenever I want. They bring such control and perfection, which makes my job easy. We initially thought 180 would be good but it did not look like that. Would have been very happy to get to 160, but the way Naman and Surya finished it, especially Naman, to come out and just hit on a difficult track like that, it was outstanding.
Faf du Plessis, Delhi Capitals captain: Felt we were excellent in the field – the guys showed great fight. The bowlers pitched up. Not the easiest pitch to bat on. We let it slip in the last two overs. Momentum is a real thing in cricket. The way they counter-punched to get almost 50 in the last two overs…undoing the work of the first 17-18 overs, we lost that momentum. If you look at the two teams, it was a case of David and Goliath. I enjoy that because it gives you the opportunity to play as a team. Rizvi showed some signs – he has some talent there. When you come up against a team like this…we were there for the first 17-18 overs and then we were pretty average. Sums up our season – we have been cold either in the batting or the bowling in the last seven or eight games. Perhaps a fair reflection (that we did not qualify). (On missing Axar and Starc) Axar on a wicket like that, the way Mitchell Santner bowled…Axar is that kind of class, proven international bowler who, on a wicket like that, would have loved to bowl. But he was very sick. Starcy is a fantastic bowler but a spinner on a wicket like this is worth gold. I am a big believer that you never take it (momentum) for granted. In the last two games, it was a fight to get that momentum back. So, it is about not losing that (momentum) quickly when you are on top of the wave.
Mitchell Santner: It was nice. It was a slightly slower wicket with a red soil – the more over-spin you bowl, the more you get out of it. (On his plans) Bowling stump to stump, you can potentially bowl a little straighter. As a unit, it was great with the ball. It was set up by SKY and Naman – 180 was probably above par on that wicket. We have shown that in the last few games – the guys up top trying to swing the new ball and then to have someone like Bumrah to bowl at the back end (of the powerplay and at the death). The cutters were holding, (it was) a slower wicket than we thought at the toss. There is more pressure to take wickets (on slower wickets). I try to change the pace and the slower ones were spinning tonight, which was nice.
11:16pm Suryakumar said at the break that MI had a few runs more than what would be deemed par. And as it turned out, they had plenty. Chahar dismissed du Plessis early, with Boult accounting for Rahul soon after. Once those two were out of the equation, DC were always playing catch-up, and they then came up against Bumrah and Santner – two bowlers at the very top of their games. They got six wickets between themselves and that laid the foundation for what became a very convincing and clinical bowling display.
DC were just not at the races with the bat – a theme that has undermined their strong start to the season. They wanted to make the powerplay count but once they lost wickets in that pursuit, it was a long way back, and so it proved in the end. They have now become the first team in IPL history to not qualify for the playoffs after winning their first four games, and that is a stat that will sting and will hurt, long after this game is done.
Bumrah to Mustafizur Rahman, OUT, From the brink of despair last season and early this campaign, to pure elation and ecstasy – the Mumbai Indians, five-time winners already, are now eleven-time qualifiers! This brilliantly bullish band in blue and gold, away from the big time for a gruelling year that may have felt like an eternity, will be back in the thick of it all in 2025! And this stellar star cast, of Boult and Bumrah, of Tilak and SKY, of Chahar and Dhir and Santner, and of Rickelton, Rohit and the redemption-chasing Hardik, will have yet another opportunity to add to this league’s legend and to this franchise’s folklore, and to show how and why this team just gets winning better than most in the land! And this blow is fitting of how dominant MI have been since over number 18 in the first innings. A searing yorker on middle stump. Straight as an arrow and Mustafizur, batting at eleven, had absolutely no chance of keeping that out. Smiles, embraces and plenty of flag-waving in the stands. The MI crowd turned up tonight, and their side turned up tonight too. And the Capitals, well, they will be left ruing what could have been, and a failure to win yet another game that really, really mattered in an IPL season!