IPL 2024, MI vs DC: Shepherd Blitz, Coetzee’s Brilliance Guide Mumbai Indians To First Win Of Season

Mumbai: Mumbai Indians (MI) snapped their three-match losing streak with a convincing 29-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. This win lifts MI off the bottom of the IPL 2024 table, while DC finds themselves in last place.

Put into bat, MI openers Rohit Sharma (49) and Ishan Kishan (42) provided a solid foundation with an 80-run partnership. The return of Suryakumar Yadav from injury was short-lived as he fell cheaply to Anrich Nortje (2-65). However, Hardik Pandya (39) steadied the ship before Romario Shepherd exploded in the final over.

Shepherd smashed a brutal 39 runs off just 10 balls, taking Nortje to the cleaners for 32 runs in the last over. Tim David (45* off 21) joined the party with his power-hitting, adding an unbeaten 53-run stand with Shepherd to propel MI to a daunting 234/5.

Axar Patel (2-35) was the only DC bowler to emerge with any credit, picking up two crucial wickets in the middle overs. However, the rest of the DC attack struggled to contain the MI batsmen.

Chasing a mammoth target, DC’s start wasn’t ideal as David Warner fell early. Abhishek Porel (41) played a decent hand at number three, but the spotlight belonged to Prithvi Shaw. Shaw struck a well-compiled 66 off 40 balls, his first fifty of the season before Jasprit Bumrah produced a magical yorker to dismiss him.

Bumrah (2-22) continued his impressive form, dismissing Porel to become the third-fastest bowler to reach 150 wickets in the IPL. He also became the second Indian pacer after Bhuvneshwar Kumar to achieve this feat.

Rishabh Pant fell cheaply to Gerald Coetzee (4-34). The young South African Tristan Stubbs provided a glimmer of hope with a blistering 71 off 25 balls, but the required run rate proved too much for DC.

Coetzee’s impressive bowling figures of 4-34 helped restrict DC to 205/8, sealing the win for MI.

With this victory, MI climbed to the eighth position in the points table, while DC were thrust to the bottom.