Delhi Capitals continue to wander in a maze of defeats as they slumped to their fourth loss on the trot on Saturday, this time embarrassed by table-topper Mumbai Indians by nine wickets at the Dubai International Stadium.

Mumbai, who are still without their regular skipper Rohit Sharma, seem to be growing stronger with every match. Having already qualified for the playoffs, the four-time champions — now on 18 points — have ensured that they will finish in the top two.

But for Capitals, who are stuck on 14 points, the situation is critical now as they find their net run rate in the negative due to this crushing defeat. Shreyas Iyer and his men must win their final game of the league phase versus Royal Challengers Bangalore, else they might face exit. Such a situation was unthinkable even a few days ago when the Delhi side was considered one of the strongest in the tournament.

Winning the toss, Mumbai took a bold decision of bowling first on a pitch that was used more than three weeks back. Stroke-play didn’t look easy and Mumbai’s bowlers responded well to restrict the Capitals to a paltry 110/9 with two of their best bowlers — Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah — each striking thrice.

Boult found a bit of swing earlier on to rattle the misfiring Capitals top order, while Bumrah — current holder of the Purple Cap — cleaned up the middle over.

During their run chase, Mumbai’s Ishan Kishan (72 not out off 47 balls) took the Capitals bowlers, including Kagiso Rabada, to the cleaners. He also got the winning runs in style, launching Anrich Nortje over deep square leg for a six, which was his third of the game.