Mumbai trump Delhi in last-ball thriller to claim maiden IPL 2023 win

The Mumbai Indians claimed their first win of IPL 2023 in another last-over thriller on Tuesday night, as the five-time champions edged past the Delhi Capitals by six wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Half-centuries from David Warner and Axar Patel guided the hosts to a par score of 172 before the Mumbai Indians completed the chase off the final ball of the game to secure the two points.

Rohit Sharma played some vintage strokes to score a half-century, while Australians Cameron Green and Tim David helped Mumbai scrape over the line in the final over to get the visitors off the mark in season 16.

Chasing 173, Mumbai got off to a flying start in the powerplay as Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan took on Delhi’s new ball attack. Rohit began the chase by pulling Mukesh Kumar for six over deep mid-wicket and launching Anrich Nortje over the leg side with a flick, while Ishan Kishan struck a trio of fours against Mustafizur. David Warner turned to spin in the back half of the powerplay to stop the flow of runs, but even though there was some turn on offer, MI kept up their onslaught to score 68 of the first six.

Rohit continued his charge through the middle to keep Mumbai on course for victory, smoking Nortje with another pull shot and bringing up his first IPL half-century after 25 innings. Tilak Varma kept his skipper good company after Kishan’s run-out, with the left-hander going after Mukesh Kumar in the 16th, taking a four and a six of the first three deliveries.

However, the pacer hit back to end the over, dismissing Varma and Suryakumar Yadav off consecutive deliveries to add another twist to the chase. Abhishek Porel took an outstanding catch an over later to remove Rohit for 65, leaving Mumbai needing 26 off 18 with two new batters at the crease.

Nortje bowled two outstanding overs at the death to give DC a chance, but Green and David dispatched a six each off Mustafizur in the 19th and managed to find two runs off the final ball to take their team over the line.

Earlier in the day, Delhi managed to post 172 in the first innings thanks to efforts from David Warner and Axar Patel. Prithvi Shaw suffered another failure at the top of the order, while Piyush Chawla ran ragged through the middle, picking up three wickets to leave Delhi reeling at 98 for five. However, Warner kept the runs flowing at one end on his way to 51, and Axar Patel added some late fireworks, striking 4 fours and 5 sixes in an entertaining 25-ball 54.

The left-hander, though, fell off the first ball of the 19th over, triggering a collapse that saw DC lose five wickets for just seven runs in the final ten balls of the innings to end up with a gettable score.