Suryakumar helps Mumbai crush Delhi to clinch playoff berth
MUMBAI: Suryakumar Yadav's unbeaten 73 and a late blitz by Naman Dhir powered Mumbai Indians into the Indian Premier League playoffs with a 59-run hammering of Delhi Capitals on Wednesday.
In a two-way battle with Delhi for one play-off spot, Mumbai posted 180-5 and then bowled out the opposition for 121 in their home at the Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai's New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner returned figures of 3-11 from his four overs. Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah also took three wickets.
"I can throw them (Santner and Bumrah) the ball whenever I want," Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya said. "They bring such control and perfection, which makes my job easy."
Five-time champions Mumbai have joined Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings as the top four teams that will battle for the title in the playoffs starting May 29.
Delhi still have a match to go but can now only reach 15 points, while Mumbai have 16 points with one more game to play.
Mumbai turned around their fortunes midway through the season after they started with four losses in their first five matches. They now count seven victories in their last eight outings.
The final few games in the group phase will decide the play-off standings as the top two teams will have the advantage of having two shots at reaching the final on June 3.
Put into bat, Mumbai recovered from a top-order wobble, including home hero Rohit Sharma falling for five, to bounce back in the second half of the innings.
India's T20 skipper Suryakumar stood firm in his 43-ball knock laced with seven fours and four sixes, and Dhir boosted the total in his unbeaten eight-ball 24.
Dhir hammered Mukesh Kumar for two fours and two sixes in a 27-run 19th over and Suryakumar then took on Sri Lankan quick Dushmantha Chameera to finish off with 21 runs in the 20th.
'LET IT SLIP'
"We let it slip in the last two overs," said Delhi's stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis, who led after regular captain Axar Patel fell ill.
"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."
Du Plessis said the team missed their Australian import Mitchell Starc, who did not return after the IPL resumed following the pause due to the conflict between India and Pakistan.
The IPL restarted last Saturday with a revised schedule, which has forced overseas players to revisit their season plans.
Tilak Varma contributed with 27 in a 55-run partnership with Suryakumar to lift Mumbai after their top three departed early.
Rohit fell to Mustafizur Rahman in the third over, and was soon followed back into the clubhouse by Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton.
Rohit, who was recently honoured by having a stand in the stadium named after him, had some of his fans wearing whites in a tribute to the former captain's recent Test retirement.
Delhi were never in the chase after Du Plessis fell for six in the second over.
Former New Zealand international Trent Boult raised the noise of the home crowd when he got the in-form KL Rahul caught behind for 11 and soon Jacks sent back Abishek Porel for a single figures score.
Wickets kept tumbling and Santner took two in one over to flatten the opposition batting, which lasted for just 18.2 overs. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Times of Oman
RCB create history, end 18-year wait for IPL trophy as PBKS fall short in pulsating final
Ahmedabad: Finally, after 18 years, it is party time for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as a brilliant spell from Krunal Pandya and solid pace bowling from trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal brought them their first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) title with a six-run win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. The wait for the title continues for PBKS, who reached their first final in 11 years under the exceptional leadership of Shreyas Iyer and head coach Ricky Ponting. However, after 18 overs, skipper Rajat Patidar has lifted the title for RCB, with their superstar batter Virat Kohli getting his first-ever IPL trophy after 18 years with the team. Shashank's brilliance (61* in 30 balls, with three fours and six sixes) proved inadequate for PBKS as the flush of shots came too late for the team. Shashank hit three sixes in the final over, not giving up the fight till the last. Chasing a challenging 191, PBKS started off well with the opening pair of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh taking down Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a four and six, taking 13 runs in over one. Priyansh tried to dominate Josh Hazlewood with two fours, but a stunning catch from Phil Salt near the ropes took Priyansh back to the pavillion for 24 in 19 balls, with four boundaries. PBKS was 43/1 in five overs. At the end of six overs, PBKS was 52/1, with Prabhsimran (15*) and Josh Inglis (8*) unbeaten. Prabhsimran was playing plenty of dot balls, but liberated himself with a six against Suyash Sharma, who ended his first over, conceding a total of 15 runs, including a six each from the duo. Krunal, who had conceded just three in his opening over, continued to put pressure, and finally it was Prabhsimran (26 in 22 balls, with two sixes) who became its victim, giving an easy catch to Bhuvneshwar Kumar at covers. PBKS was 72/2 in 8.3 overs. Romario Shepherd got the crucial wicket of Shreyas Iyer, the skipper for just one. PBKS was 79/3 in 9.4 overs. At the halfway mark, PBKS was 81/3, with Inglis (24*) and Nehal Wadhera (1*) unbeaten. Spin continued to create pressure on PBKS, while Romario conceded 10 runs in the 12th over, with Inglis doing heavy lifting. Krunal's pressure-building ways bite PBKS really hard as they lost Inglis for 39 in 23 balls, with a four and four sixes on the first ball of the 13th over. PBKS was 98/4 in 12.1 overs. The 15th over by Romario relieved some pressure for PBKS as Nehal and Shashank Singh hit a four and six each, getting 14 runs in total, taking the score ot 119. PBKS needed 72 in 30 balls. The next over by Hazlewood saw Shashank hitting two sixes, bringing down the equation to 55 in 24 balls. Bhuvneshwar's third over brought a crucial wicket of Wadhera, who struggled in his 15 runs in 16 balls, with just a six. Krunal was the hero, this time as a fielder. PBKS was 136/5 in 16.2 overs. Though Marcus Stoinis came out swinging with a six, he perished on the next ball with a easy catch to Yash. PBKS was 142/6 in 16.4 overs, they were left needing 47 in the final three overs. Azmatullah Omarzai (1) could not trouble the scorekeepers much as he gave away his wicket to Yash for just one. PBKS was 145/7 in 17.2 overs. They were left with 42 to chase in the final two overs, with Shashank and Kyle Jamieson on the crease. Bhuvneshwar came down to deliver the penultimate over, eating a six from Shashank on ball one. However, the equation came down to 29 runs in the final over. Despite a sensational effort from Shashank (61* in 30 balls, with three fours and six sixes), which had three sixes and a four, RCB won by six runs, with PBKS finishing at 184/7. Krunal (2/17) and Bhuvneshwar (2/38) delivered top-class four-over spells. Yash was fantastic with his three over spell of 1/18. Hazlewood ended a 1/54 spell on expensive note, but was brilliant nonetheless. Romario also got a wicket. Earlier, a valiant effort from Royal Challengers Bengaluru set a fighting 191-run target for Punjab Kings in the title clash of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Counter-attacking knocks from Jitesh Sharma (24 from 10 deliveries) and Virat Kohli (43 from 35 balls) powered RCB to 190/9. Still, Arshdeep Singh (3/40) and Kyle Jamieson's (3/48) searing three-wicket hauls denied Bengaluru a 200-run mark. After being put to bat by Punjab, Arshdeep deployed short-length approach ploy, and Phil Salt embraced the opportunity with both hands in the opening over. He hammered the ball over the long leg and sent the ball sailing over the boundary rope for a maximum. On the fifth delivery, Salt swivelled the ball across the line, and the ball marginally fell short of the rope and bounced away for a four. With Salt coming in and all guns blazing, Bengaluru ended with 13 runs in the opening over. With runs flowing swiftly, Salt (16) took the aerial route in the next over against Kyle Jamieson but couldn't get the desired distance. Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer safely held the ball in his hands to draw the first retaliated with a couple of boundaries and finished the powerplay with 55/1 on the board. Right after the powerplay, Mayank Agarwal (24) tried to take on Punjab's premier spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal, but swung his bat a fraction too early. The ball soared high and lobbed down to Arshdeep in the deep. Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar, the former and current captains, tried to form a partnership to see off the middle overs and set the stage for the climax. Virat anchored the innings while Patidar took the brunt of taking risks on his shoulders. He succeeded a couple of times in his venture, but Jamieson trapped Patidar in front of the stumps in the 11th over. Patidar had shuffled across the crease to make room for a shot but missed the ball completely. He knew taking a review would be futile and returned on 26(16). Liam Livingstone joined Virat at the crease, and the duo spun Chahal inside out to take 14 runs from the over. However, the momentum swung in Punjab's favour after Virat's top edge landed straight back into Azmatullah Omarzai's hands, forcing the franchise icon to return on 43(35). Jitesh Sharma notched back-to-back sixes off Jamieson to turn up the much-needed run flow in the 17th over. Jamieson struck back to pin Livingstone (25) in front of the stumps to take the momentum back from Bengaluru. Romario Shepherd survived after substitute Praveen Dubey dropped his mistimed slog. Vijaykumar Vyshak cleaned up Jitesh Sharma to pull the curtains down on his 24-run blitzkrieg from 10 deliveries. Shepherd reeled off a four and a towering maximum in the last two deliveries of the penultimate over. Shepherd tried to take on Arshdeep but got pinned in front of the stumps, courtesy of the left-armer's searing yorker. Krunal Pandya followed Shepherd's footsteps after he holed it straight to Shreyas. Arshdeep capped off the innings with Bhuvneshwar Kumar's scalp as Bengaluru settled for 190/9.
Observer
3 days ago
- Observer
Punjab past Mumbai to book IPL final with Bengaluru
AHMEDABAD: Punjab Kings batter Shreyas Iyer played a captain's knock as the Indian Premier League (IPL) table toppers beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the second qualifier on Sunday to set up a tantalising final with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Punjab had won the toss and opted to field before the rain came down and delayed the start of the game by more than two hours. But they did not lose any overs, with the match eventually finishing at well past 1:30 a.m. Chasing a target of 204 for victory, Iyer smashed an unbeaten 87 off 41 balls with eight clean sixes as Punjab returned to the final for the first time in 11 years. The result means Tuesday's final at the same venue will crown a new IPL champion, with Bengaluru also falling short in the summit clash in 2009, 2011 and 2016. Punjab lost to Bengaluru in the first playoff match on Thursday, but they will now have another shot at winning their maiden trophy. "I love big occasions. I always tell my team, the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are," said Iyer, who captained Kolkata to the title last year before moving to Punjab. "We shouldn't think about where we went wrong (against Bengaluru) because throughout the season we've been playing amazing... One match cannot define us as a team." GOOD START Punjab had a good start when Rohit Sharma fell cheaply in the third over but Jonny Bairstow (38) and Tilak Varma (44) went after the bowling before Suryakumar Yadav smashed three sixes and four boundaries in his quick-fire knock of 44. A mammoth total looked on the cards but Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Suryakumar while Azmatullah Omarzai picked up two wickets, including skipper Hardik Pandya, to restrict Mumbai to 203-6. In response, Punjab scored 64 runs in the powerplay with Josh Inglis (38) leading the charge before Iyer and Nehal Wadhera stitched together an 84-run partnership for the fourth wicket to frustrate Mumbai. While Iyer effortlessly accelerated the run rate with three consecutive sixes in an expensive Reece Topley over, Wadhera rode his luck with some loose shots that found the boundary to put the pressure back on Mumbai. Wadhera fell for 48 but Iyer notched up his half-century in 27 balls before denying Jasprit Bumrah a wicket with a fine boundary off a yorker. Iyer then welcomed Ashwani Kumar back into the attack with a high and handsome six before clearing the ropes three more times as the 19th over went for 26 runs and Punjab won the game with an over to spare. "The way he batted, he took his chances. Some of the shots he played were really outstanding," a bitterly disappointed Hardik said. — AFP
Times of Oman
4 days ago
- Times of Oman
Shreyas Iyer steers Punjab Kings to second IPL final with commanding win over Mumbai Indians
Ahmedabad: Shreyas Iyer rose to the occasion with a captain's knock that will be etched in Punjab Kings' (PBKS) history, as his unbeaten 87 off 41 deliveries powered the franchise into their second Indian Premier League (IPL) final, and first in eleven years, with a five-wicket win over the five time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in the second qualifier in Ahmedabad on Monday. Chasing a stiff target of 204, Punjab showed both aggression and composure to overhaul the total with an over to spare, thanks largely to Iyer's clean striking and calculated leadership in the middle. Punjab's chase began on a shaky note as Prabhsimran Singh fell early to Trent Boult for just 6, leaving PBKS at 13/1 in 2.1 overs. Priyansh Arya provided a quick spark with a brisk 20 off 10 balls before being dismissed by Ashwani Kumar, with the score at 55/2 in 5.1 overs. Australian Josh Inglis then took charge alongside Iyer, stroking a confident 38 off 21 deliveries, including five boundaries and two sixes. However, MI skipper Hardik Pandya removed him at a crucial juncture, momentarily halting Punjab's momentum. With pressure building, Nehal Wadhera partnered with Iyer to put together a critical 84-run stand, maintaining the required rate and keeping Punjab in the hunt. Wadhera missed out on a half-century, falling for 48 to Ashwani Kumar, but by then, the platform had been set. Even as wickets fell around him, including a run-out of Shashank Singh for 2, Iyer remained unflustered. Punjab crossed 100 in 10.3 overs and brought up 150 in 15.1, keeping the scoreboard ticking efficiently. The chase was sealed in 19 overs, with Iyer finishing things off in emphatic style, taking his team to the final with a towering six. This win not only marked Punjab Kings' first IPL final appearance since 2014 but also added a new chapter to Iyer's captaincy legacy. Having already led Delhi Capitals (DC) (2020) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) (2024) to the summit clash, lifting the title with KKR, Iyer now becomes the first captain to reach three IPL finals with three different franchises. With this, he also has a shot at becoming a two-time IPL-winning captain, a feat very few have achieved. This was Punjab's first playoffs after eleven years. With momentum on their side and Iyer in sublime form, Punjab Kings will now set their sights on a historic first IPL trophy. For a franchise that has long lived in the shadows of more successful teams, 2025 might just be their year, and with Shreyas Iyer at the helm, they'll believe anything is possible. Mumbai's bowlers were not up to the mark, and Jasprit Bumrah was off-colour, as he gave away 40 runs in his four overs. Ashwani Kumar picked up 2/55, and Boult and Pandya picked up one wicket each. Earlier, an Exceptional batting performance from the Mumbai Indians powered them to a solid total of 203/6 in their 20 overs during Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Right-hand batters Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow came out to open the innings for the Mumbai-based franchise in the game. The side didn't have the start that they wanted, as the Hardik Pandya-led side lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma at the score of 19. The right-hand batter went back to the pavilion after scoring just eight runs. Following Rohit's dismissal, left-hand batter Tilak Varma was promoted up the order. The Mumbai side touched the 50-run mark in the fifth over of the innings. On the last ball of the seventh over, the Mumbai team lost their second wicket as Bairstow was dismissed by right-arm seamer Vijaykumar Vyshak. The right-hand batter went back to the dressing room after scoring 38 runs off 24 balls, which came with the help of three fours and two sixes in his innings. After Bairstow's departure, right-hand batter Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat. In the 10th over of the innings, the MI side completed their 100-run mark. The Mumbai Indians team lost their third and fourth wicket at the score of 142. The batters to get dismissed at 142 were Suryakumar Yadav (44 runs off 26 balls) and Tilak Varma (44 runs from 29 balls).In the end, right-hand batter Naman Dhir came out to bat and scored a crucial 37 runs in just 18 balls, which was laced by seven boundaries at a strike rate of 205.56. For the Shreyas Iyer-led side, two wickets were snapped by Azmatullah Omarzai (2/43 in 4 overs) and one wicket each was grabbed by Kyle Jamieson (1/30 in 4 overs), Marcus Stoinis (1/14 in 1 over), Vijaykumar Vyshak (1/30 in 3 overs), and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/39 in 4 overs) in their respective spells. Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 203/6 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 44, Tilak Varma 44; Azmatullah Omarzai 2/43) vs Punjab Kings 207/5 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 87, Nehal Wadhera 48; Ashwani Kumar 2/55).
