Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel help Delhi Capitals pull off coup

Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel stunned Mumbai Indians as Delhi Capitals pulled off a come-from-behind four-wicket win at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday.

Chasing 178, Capitals were tottering at 72 for 5 after 9.4 overs. When Basil Thampi removed Shardul Thakur in the 14th over, the target was still 74 runs away with only 6.4 overs left. But Lalit and Axar smashed 75 off 30 balls in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand and wrapped up the game with ten balls to spare. After a slow start, Lalit finished on 48 off 38 balls, while Axar struck 38 off just 17.

Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav's 3 for 18 had rocked Mumbai Indians after they had made a strong start but Ishan Kishan stayed put and struck an unbeaten 81 off 48 balls. His knock, featuring 11 fours and two sixes, ensured Mumbai posted a challenging 177 for 5. It even looked like a winning total for most of Capitals' innings before Lalit and Axar snatched the game away.

A power-packed powerplay
There was a tinge of green on the surface, and Thakur began with two slips against Rohit Sharma. But the third ball of his opening over drifted down the leg side, and Rohit clipped it to the fine-leg boundary. Three balls later, Thakur bowled full outside off and Rohit launched him over wide long-off for six.

This was a sign of things to come. On a pitch that offered little for the bowlers, Rohit and Kishan took full advantage of Capitals' wayward bowling as their seamers bowled either too full or too short. In the first five overs, Rohit and Kishan hit five fours and three sixes.

Khaleel Ahmed started the sixth over with three dots to Rohit. Off the fourth ball, Rohit, premeditatedly moved towards off stump to play the lap shot. He ended up hitting it to short fine leg but Thakur put it down. Rohit danced down the track next ball and smashed Khaleel through the covers for four, bringing up the team's fifty. Mumbai finished the powerplay at 53 for no loss.

Kuldeep strikes back
Kuldeep hasn't been in the best of form in the last three years or so, slipping down the pecking order of selection for India and struggling to find a place in the Kolkata Knight Riders XI. But where he had to compete with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy at Knight Riders, he might be likelier to get game time at Capitals, his new franchise. And he ensured as much with his performance on Sunday.

Rohit and Kishan had added 67 in 8.2 overs when Kuldeep dismissed Rohit. The ball was just short of a good length; Rohit couldn't execute the pull shot perfectly and found deep midwicket. Anmolpreet Singh then struggled to read Kuldeep and sliced one to long-off to give him his second wicket.

With two left-handers, Kishan and Tilak Varma, in the middle, Pant sneaked in two overs of Lalit Yadav's offspin. When Kieron Pollard came to the crease, Pant brought Kuldeep back for his final over. He didn't disappoint his captain and snared Pollard with another short-of-good-length delivery. It was pulled powerfully but Tim Seifert leapt to his left at forward square leg and plucked it with both hands. That left Mumbai 122 for 4 in 15.5 overs.

Kishan powers Mumbai to formidable total
While Mumbai kept losing regular wickets at one end, Kishan stayed firm at the other. He brought up his half-century in 34 balls, with a six off Axar Patel. Two balls later he swatted him wide of long-off for four more.

Khaleel Ahmed was the next to bear the brunt of Kishan's blitz. In the 19th over, he hit him for two fours in three balls, which could have been three in three if not for a flying effort by Seifert at deep square leg. Thakur went for 18 in the final over, with Daniel Sams hitting a six and Kishan two successive fours to power Mumbai to a formidable total.

Getting on strike midway through the first over of the chase, Seifert got off the blocks with back-to-back fours off Sams, a crisp cover-drive followed by a brutal pull. He played an even better shot in the second over, punching a full delivery from Jasprit Bumrah over the bowler's head. Two balls later, Bumrah slipped in a slower ball. This time Seifert went over wide mid-off, and picked up his fourth boundary in just eight balls.

Prithvi Shaw joined in the fun by pulling Basil Thampi for a six over deep midwicket, but things soon went south for Capitals.

Bowling the fourth over, M Ashwin got Seifert to edge a fast legbreak. But Aryan Juyal, substituting for Kishan who had gone for a scan after taking a hit to the toe while batting, dropped the catch. But Ashwin had his man off the next ball, this time scything an even faster googly through Seifert's defence. Two balls later, Mandeep Singh hit a full-toss straight to mid-on.

When Tymal Mills had Pant top-edging a short ball to third man in the fifth over, Capitals were wobbling at 32 for 3 .

Thampi rocks Capitals further
Shaw kept Capitals in the hunt and took them to 70 for 3 after nine overs, taking on Mills and Sams in the process. In the tenth over, he attempted another pull against Thampi but got only a top-edge and Kishan, who was back behind the stumps by now, held on to a swirling skier. Two balls later, Rovman Powell pulled Thampi straight to deep square leg. At 72 for 5, it looked like the game was over.

Lalit and Axar script improbable win
With all seemingly lost, Thakur hit Bumrah for three fours in the 11th over. But soon after, he too top-edged a pull and fell for an 11-ball 22. Lalit and Axar brought the equation down to 56 required from 30 balls. Axar then dispatched Bumrah over long-on and Lalit crashed him behind point in a 15-run over.

Off the first ball of the 17th over, Thampi produced a chance but Tim David put down a sitter at long-on to give Axar a life. To rub salt into the wound, Axar hit him for a four three balls later, and the final ball of the over went for four leg-byes.

Capitals still needed 28 off the last three overs, and even though he had had an underwhelming day, Bumrah was to bowl one of them. Sams bowled the 18th over, and Axar and Lalit feasted on his slower balls. They hit him for three sixes and a four, ransacking 24 off the over. When Bumrah came for the 19th over, Capitals need just four. After a single to Lalit, Bumrah bowled one down the leg side, and Axar duly clipped him to the fine leg boundary to seal the match.