Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals by five wickets with two balls to spare at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and jumped up to top of the IPL table. Quinton de Kock (53) and Suryakumar Yadav (53) scored half centuries as MI ended their innings on 166/5, thus chasing down a target of 163 with two balls to spare. While the chase went into the last over, MI hardly ever looked the second-best team throughout the night. They first restricted DC to 162/4, ensuring that DC opener Shikhar Dhawan scored just 69 runs despite playing through the innings.
DC got a glimmer of hope when they dismissed Suryakumar, Hardik Pandya (0) and Ishan Kishan (28) in relatively quick succession between the 15th and 18th overs. However, Kieron Pollard (11 not out) and Krunal Pandya (12 not out) saw the team home without any more hiccups.
Shikhar Dhawan scored his first half-century of the season and shared a 85-run stand with skipper Shreyas Iyer as Delhi Capitals posted a competitive 162 for four against Mumbai Indians in the first innings. Dhawan gave himself enough time to play sheet anchor's role even as MI bowlers did a decent job in the slog overs to not let the batsmen play too many big shots.
Dhawan's unbeaten 69-run knock came off 52 balls with six fours and a six, while Iyer's 33-ball 42 had five shots to the fence. After Prithvi Shaw (4) was snared early by Trent Boult and Ajinkya Rahane too following him back in the dug out soon, there were no free runs for the Capitals in the beginning after electing to bat.
Rahane, playing his first game of the season, was trapped in front of the wicket by Krunal Pandya, introduced timely by MI skipper Rohit Sharma, considering that the India Test vice-captain struggles against left-arm spinners.
With in-form Iyer and Dhawan at the crease, the boundaries came here and there. It kept the scoreboard ticking at a decent run-rate. Iyer's trademark along the ground-strokes, played with straight bat, were effective and a treat to watch. Dhawan chugged along nicely as the two batsmen formed a substantial partnership.
Krunal broke the stand by getting rid of Iyer, who was holed out to Boult at deep mid-wicket. It brought Marcus Stonis (13) to the crease. The Australian hit two cracking boundaries but was run out in a mix up with Dhawan. Rohit smartly used his spinners in the middle overs and kept Jasprit Bumrah's quota for the slog overs.
Spin duo of Krunal (2/26) and Rahul Chahar conceded only 53 runs in their eight overs.