DC was defeated by MI in a high-scoring thriller by just 12 runs. DC dominated the chase for more than half of the innings, but MI made a comeback in the last few overs and clinched the victory from the opponent’s jaws. Let’s explore the 3 reasons for DC’s defeat.
Batting Collapse
Apart from Karun Nair’s rampant knock of 89 runs in 40 balls, none of the other batters played an extensive knock and looked comfortable in the crease. Karun Nair’s powerful knock kept DC in the game, but after his wicket, they suffered a massive batting collapse and lost the match eventually.
Apart from Karun Nair and Abhishek Porel, none of the DC batters crossed 20 runs. When Karun got out, DC required 71 runs from 50 balls. Playing Cricket with calculative risks could have made this chase a cakewalk for them, but they went to boost their NRR and lost wickets in crucial moments.
Lack of game awareness
The pitch didn’t help the fast bowlers, but had a bit of turn for the spinners. Karun Nair was dismissed by Mitchell Santner. Karn Sharma, who came as an impact sub, picked the wicket of a well-set Abhishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs.
Karn Sharma came to bowl the 16th over, and his last one, DC required another 48 runs to win from the last 5 overs. KL Rahul was on the strike. After that, only fast bowlers had to bowl the last four overs. But KL Rahul went for a high-risk sweep shot and lost his wicket. His wicket gave more confidence for MI to come back in the game.
In the last two overs, DC required 23 runs of 12 balls with 3 wickets in hand. Asutosh Sharma was on strike, and Jasprit Bumrah had the ball in his hand. Asutosh denied a single to Starc in the first ball and hit a boundary in the second ball. He tried to score a double in the second over but was run out by Will Jacks. Even a full-fledged dive couldn’t save him. Kuldeep came to face the next ball and got out in the same way. Mohit Sharma came in as the last wicket and he also lost his wicket by trying for a quick single and was run out in the non-striker’s end.
Three batters were run out in three consecutive deliveries. A hat-trick of run-outs. Never seen before scenes in IPL. When Asutosh denied the single in the first delivery, he could have opted not to run on that ball as well. One more boundary in that over, and the equation could have 15 runs in last over.
Asutosh could have scored 15 runs in the last over and he had done it before as well. He could have backed his plan of denying singles and looking for boundaries.
Also Read:DC vs MI : Karn Sharma’s 3 Wicket Haul Helps MI Win A Thriller; Karun Nair’s 89 In Vain