Karun Nair did what few can. He tamed Jasprit Bumrah. But in the end, all of it went in vain as the Mumbai Indians snapped Delhi Capitals' winning run by stealing a 12-run win at the Kotla in Delhi on Sunday.
Nair had absolute authority over Bumrah, smoking the world’s best bowler across formats for three boundaries and two maximums in the latter’s first two overs, which cost him 29. In his first appearance in the IPL in three years, Nair produced an innings (89 off 40 balls) of sheer class and quality.
But following Nair’s dismissal off a ripper from Mitchell Santner in the 12th over, the Capitals choked. They suffered three run-outs at the fag end to fall short of Mumbai Indians’ 205/5, being all out for 193 in 19 overs.
The win helped MI move to seventh in the standings. The Capitals slipped to second as the Gujarat Titans, with a superior net run rate, are now at the top.
Show of impact
In superlative form in the 2024-25 domestic season for Vidarbha, the Capitals' management took four games to finally name Nair as their Impact Player, replacing Mukesh Kumar. Nair played some exquisite strokes and literally toyed with the MI field settings during a high-class innings featuring 12 boundaries and five maximums.
At ease against Bumrah and the other bowlers, Nair was equally comfortable while churning out a few fancy, cheeky shots.
Nair's dismissal was certainly against the run of play, and from then onwards, leg-spinner Karn Sharma, Mumbai's Impact Player, made quite an impact. In his first appearance in this IPL, the 37-year-old altered his length, utilised the top-spin and got a fair amount of turn as well to account for Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs and the in-form KL Rahul to spin the game in MI's favour.
Karn's effort was backed up by Santner, while Trent Boult also conceded few in his second spell.
Turning it around
Earlier, it was Tilak Varma who played a statement-making innings. Asked to retire out in Mumbai's run chase against Lucknow Super Giants, Tilak has now answered his critics with back-to-back fifties. His 33-ball 59 on Sunday was integral to pushing MI past 200, which looked difficult following the dismissals of Suryakumar Yadav and captain Hardik Pandya.
An enterprising Tilak unleashed strokes when it mattered to take good care of Mumbai's scoring rate on Sunday. Yes, he had a reprieve on 24, but overall, the way he batted on Sunday showed why India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav rates him so highly.
Naman Dhir's 38 not out off 17 balls was also crucial for Mumbai. Those extra runs mattered in the end.