Mumbai Indians finally opened their account in the TATA IPL 2023, as they defeated Delhi Capitals by six wickets in an enthralling Match 16 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. After winning the toss, MI skipper Rohit Sharma decided to field first. Piyush Chawla (3/22) and Jason Behrendorff (3/23) bowled brilliantly to restrict DC to 172 runs. Chasing the target, Rohit Sharma played an excellent inning of 65 off 45 balls to take his team to victory off the last ball of the match.
Rohit Sharma started the innings in a stormy fashion by hitting two fours and a six off the first over from Mukesh Kumar. He was well supported by Ishan Kishan, who also started aggressively by hitting three consecutive fours off Mustafizur Rahman. The opening duo of MI put on a 60-run stand in just 5.1 overs. MI reached 68/0 at the end of the powerplay.
After a tight over from Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan got run out in a mix-up between the batsmen. DC then pulled things back, and they didn't concede a boundary for 17 balls. Rohit Sharma broke the drought with a massive six off Anrich Nortje in the 9th over. Tilak Varma hit a six off Kuldeep Yadav as MI reached 91/1 at the halfway mark. Rohit reached his fifty off just 29 balls. Varma and Rohit then mixed caution with aggression and kept the scoreboard ticking there after. They took 14 off Kuldeep Yadav in the 12th over to bring the equation down to 61 runs off 48 balls.
DC bowlers slowed things down a bit in the next three overs as they conceded just 11 runs off them. The required run rate touched 10.0, and Varma broke the shackles in the next over, hitting a couple of sixes and a four to Mukesh Kumar, but he was dismissed in the same over.
Mukesh Kumar also got rid of Suryakumar Yadav in the next ball to make it two in two. Then, MI introduced Tim David, who replaced Riley Meredith and came out to bat at No. 5. With 34 runs needed off 24 balls, Rohit hit a four off Mustafizur Rahman, but the bowler bounced back by dismissing Rohit for 65 runs.
Cameron Green hit the last ball of the over for a four to get off the mark on the first ball and bring the equation to 26 runs needed off 18 balls.
Anrich Nortje bowled an excellent 18th over and conceded just six runs. With 20 runs needed off 12 balls, Mustafizur gave away just two runs off the first three balls, but then Green smashed a six to bring it down to 12 runs needed off 8 balls. A single followed, and then Tim David connected one off the middle to let it sail over long on for a six.
With five runs needed off the last over, Green took a single off the first ball, and then David was dropped at mid-wicket. With four runs needed off four balls, Nortje bowled a wide down the leg side, but the decision was overturned after a successful review by DC.
David took a single off the next ball. With three runs needed off two balls, Nortje bowled a superb yorker, and Green flicked it to mid-wicket and scampered through for a quick single as Nortje failed to collect the throw from the fielder. With two runs needed off the last ball, David drove it to long off and scampered through for a two as he dived in full length to make it in time as the keeper whipped the bails off at the striker's end.