Mumbai Indians secured their first win of the 2024 IPL campaign on Sunday (Apr 7), beating Delhi Capitals (DC) by 29 runs after posting a massive 235-run target. Tristan Stubbs (71*) waged a lone battle but none of the other batters could stand beside him and take the war to MI. 

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DC’s chase was off to a poor start as David Warner departed in the fourth over after struggling to come to terms with the pace of the wicket. The Australian was uncharacteristic in his shot-making and eventually paid the price for it by holing out to a gentle dibbly-dobbler from Romario Shepherd. 

With Warner gone, Prithwi Shaw joined forces with Abishek Porel and the duo managed to stitch a 49-ball 88-run partnership but never really threatened to take the game away from MI. Shaw wasn’t at his fluent best but still gave a decent account of himself to suggest he deserved a permanent spot in the playing XI. 

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Jasprit Bumrah was the star of the show with the ball for MI as he struck in successive overs to kill any hope of a DC resurgence. The Indian speedster finished the quota of four overs with figures reading 2/22. 

Bumrah was ably supported by Gerald Coetzee who picked up four wickets and ensured that DC did not get a whiff of the victory. Meanwhile, Stubbs remained unbeaten at the end and only if other batters had stepped up, he could have guided DC near the total. 

Romario shepherds MI innings

Put into bat first by the opposition skipper, MI were off to a fiery start as both openers, Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma came off the blocks with an ultra-attacking mindset. 

However, despite the quick start, MI lost their way in the middle overs as skipper Hardik Pandya played a laborious innings to kill the momentum. 

Just when it looked like MI would miss out on going past the 200-run mark, both Tim Davids and Shepherd stepped up on the gas. The duo scored 51 runs in the last 12 deliveries to guide MI to an above-par total.

Shepherd was particularly severe on Anrich Nortje as he smashed him for 32 runs in the final over.  Shepherd collected two fours and four maximums in the over to power MI to 234 for five. 

The South African pacer’s miserable run in the tournament continued and he returned with the most expensive spell of the 2024 season and the joint most expensive spell bowled by a Dehli bowler, equalling the unfortunate record set by Umesh Yadav in 2023. 

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