Hardik Pandya was pretty happy with Karn Sharma, who came off the bench and played a big role in helping the Mumbai Indians grab a 12-run win against the Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Sunday. This victory steered Mumbai back on track in the IPL. DC looked set at 119 for one halfway through the innings, but they crumbled to 193 all out in 19 overs, largely due to Karn taking three wickets for 36 runs.
Rohit Sharma recommended bringing Karn into the bowling lineup and even asked for a ball change after the 11th over. “Winning is always special, especially in games like this. You have to keep pushing and it means a lot, Pandya said after the match, when asked if he felt relieved after MI’s second win this season.
Karn’s performance was really impressive. Pandya praised him, saying he showed a lot of grit, especially on a small ground. On the other hand, Karun Nair’s quick 89 was useless since DC couldn’t capitalize on it. Pandya noted it took them off guard how well Nair played.
The DC batters faced a shocking collapse with three runouts, ending their chase at 193. “Fielding can really turn the game around. We stayed alert, didn’t give up, and grabbed the chances we got, Pandya said.
Set to bat first, Tilak Varma smashed 59 runs off 33 balls, helping Mumbai reach 205 for 5. Ryan Rickelton (41 off 25), Suryakumar Yadav (40 off 28), and Naman Dhir (38 off 17) also chipped in with solid scores. Talking about MI’s batting style, Pandya said it really depends on the situation. “It’s all about how the in-form players handle the pressure. Dew played a role later on too. The mindset was to keep fighting – that was my message to the team. Wins like this can really turn things around.
Delhi’s captain Axar Patel pointed out that soft dismissals from the middle order cost them the game but didn’t want to dwell on the loss too much. “We had the game in hand. Those soft dismissals and bad shots made a difference. Losing by 12 runs with an over to spare shows we could’ve still won. You can’t expect your lower-order batsmen to always bail you out,” he said.
He also mentioned that sloppy fielding let MI score more than they should have, but he praised his spin bowlers. “If we had caught better, we could’ve kept them to a lower score. I trust all three of our spinners, especially Kuldeep, who’s been on fire this season. There were some positives today – we just need to move on from this game.
Download the CricInformer app
Take CricInformer with you. Get our app for cricket news and updates on your phone.