Amit Mishra four-for leads Delhi Capitals to jinx-breaking win over Mumbai Indians
Dhawan continues to be the Capitals' premier batsman, guiding the tricky chase with a 42-ball 45
Amit Mishra ran rings around the celebrated Mumbai Indians batting line-up • BCCI/IPL
Both sides had loaded up on spin keeping the conditions in mind, and the Capitals sprung a further surprise by opening the bowling with Marcus Stoinis and R Ashwin, a move that seemed to succeed initially. But in Ashwin's second over, with Quinton de Kock having already fallen, Sharma took flight. There was a slog-swept four and a one-handed six over extra cover, and Kagiso Rabada was greeted with an imperiously disdainful straight drive over the bowler's head. Suryakumar Yadav was matching Sharma shot for shot at that stage, but was caught behind off Avesh Khan for a 15-ball 24. However, Mumbai still seemed steadily on course with Sharma in great ball-striking form.
Two balls into his second over, Mishra had already given up 16 runs. But he would go on to give up just eight more runs in his entire spell, and it began with Sharma's wicket. Spotting Sharma advancing down the track, he hung the ball further away from off, slowing it up too, and for once, Sharma didn't get the timing on his drive right. Two balls later, Pandya attempted to whack his first ball over long-on, and the fielder there was in business for the second time in the over as Mumbai went from strong to uncertain.
In the last two years, Dhawan has become one of the IPL's best openers - best batters, in fact - and has done it by scoring heavily and quickly. In this game, he showed he could adapt too, and went into the pre-2019 Dhawan mode. Given the small target, a tough pitch and a great attack to contend with, Dhawan's was the right approach to keep the Capitals steady. He had a bit of good fortune when the last ball of the first over popped up off a leading edge, and Pandya at short cover launched himself horizontally forward to seemingly pluck the ball with his fingertips. It was one of those did-it-touch-the-ground-did-it-not catches that, when rendered in 2D television images, mostly turn out unfavourably for the fielder. The third umpire was called on and ruled that Dhawan was not out. He went on to have steady partnerships with No. 3 Steven Smith and the promoted No. 4 Lalit Yadav.
Dhawan's wicket left things a tad uncertain, but with the dew around in fairly heavy quantities and the target within reach, all the Capitals needed to do was knock the ball around. They still had a bit of a jitter when Rishabh Pant fell to Jasprit Bumrah, but Lalit stuck around while Shimron Hetmyer played the kind of cameo required to soothe nerves and seal victory.
Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo