DC started this season as a dominating force. DC was the team to beat in the first half. But the tables turned for them in the second half. They could win only 2 of their last 8 games and have been kicked out of the tournament now. MI registered a 58 run win and outplayed them in all the 3 departments of the game. Let’s look at the key factors which cost DC the match.
Missed Key players
DC missed Axar Patel and T Natarajan in this game. Axar Patel is affected by flu, and T Natarajan had an injury. Both would have been effective in this pitch. The wicket was assisting finger spinners, and Axar Patel was the only one they had. Natarajan could have bowled those expensive 2 overs in the death and contained runs with his yorkers and slower ones.
The ball is held on the pitch in the second phase of the innings, which would perfectly suit the bowling style of Nattu. Both of them missing the game created a major hole in the DC bowling unit, which was already looking weaker without Mitchell Starc.
Even DC’s stand in Captain Faf du Plessis mentioned that, they missed the services of Axar Patel who could have delivered a similar performance of Mitchell Santner.
Poor bowling strategy
The pitch had good assistance for spin, and the slower ones were effective. But DC bowlers couldn’t make full use of it. Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera together conceded 48 runs in the last 2 overs. MI’s score went from 132 off 18 overs to 180 at the end of the innings. Momentum completely shifted towards them.
When Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav are turning the ball well in the middle overs, DC didn’t attack with a slip fielder. Tilak Verma even edged some of the deliveries. Tilak and Surya played sensibly against the spinners in the middle.
Mustafizur Rahman was bowling well; he was using the slowness in the pitch and troubled the batters with his cutters. They didn’t play any unwanted shots against him as well. But Faf, finished Mustaifuz in the 18th over. So the last 2 overs need to be filled by Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera.
Mukesh Kumar tried slower ones, but he gave width on the outside of the stump, allowing Suryakumar and Naman Dhir to swing their bat freely. Chameera went for yorkers, couldn’t nail them and landed as full tosses, got bashed by both of them.
These two bowlers didn’t see the spell of Mustafizur. Faf didn’t try the debutant Madhav Tiwary, who played at T Natrajan’s place. They could have played Mohit Sharma instead of him, who could have been the perfect choice in this slow pitch.
Irresponsible batting from the top order
DC chased the tough target of 180. Thier openers Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul disappointed. Faf got out to Deepak Chahar ( 6 off 7 ) in the second over. Chahar bowled a nuckle ball, Faf lofted it straight to the hands of Mitchell Santner in the long on.
KL Rahul stepped down and blindly slogged against Boult in the 3rd over. Edged it, and caught behind by Ryan Rickelton ( 11 off 6 ). These two are the most experienced players in this batting line up and both of them threw their wickets cheaply.
DC lost the game there itself. They were 20/2 in 2.4 overs, and couldn’t recover from that. They didn’t learn by seeing the innings of Suryakumar Yadav ( 73* off 43 ). He started slowly, and once he got set, he started taking calculated risks. This pitch required that patience from the batters.
DC lost 3 wickets inside the powerplay before Jasprit Bumrah could start his spell. After powerplay, Bumrah and Mitchell Santner made sure DC never comeback in the game. Sameer Rizvi played a struggling knock of 39 runs from 35 balls which helped DC to post a decent total at least.
Mitchell Santner turned the ball like a web and reminded us of the Wankhede test match between India and New Zealand last year. DC were bundled out for 121 runs in 18.2 overs and lost the match by 58 runs.
Also Read:Â MI vs DC : Faf Du Plessis Reflects On DC’s Defeat Against Rampant MI