IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians knock Delhi Capitals out of playoffs race, RCB qualify

In what turned out to be one of the most important matches towards the business end of the Indian Premier League 2022, Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals by 5 wickets at the Wankhede stadium, Mumbai on Saturday. As a result, DC have been knocked out of the play-offs race with Royal Challengers Bangalore becoming the fourth and final team to qualify.

IPL 2022 points table: RCB sneak into playoffs; MI break DC hearts, still finish last

Riding on Jasprit Bumrah’s 3 for 25, Ishan Kishan’s 35-ball 48 and a middle-order show by Dewald Brevis (37) and Tim David (34), bottom-placed MI finished their otherwise poor season on a winning note.

Mumbai Indians got off to a slow start as a scratchy Rohit Sharma (2) struggled against the new ball spell by Khaleel Ahmed (0/24) but Kishan and Brevis put on a strong second-wicket partnership to swing the momentum in their favour. MI continued to lose wickets at regular intervals but David’s innings proved to be the match-winning one.

Rishabh Pant and DC were left to rue a chance to see the back of David when he was out off his first ball but they chose not to review the caught behind.

Earlier in the match, despite Rovman Powell’s valiant 34-ball 43, MI used a disciplined bowling effort led by Jasprit Bumrah (3/25) to limit DC to 159 for seven in their last IPL encounter.

A wobbly start for DC saw them reeling at 50 for four in 8.4 overs as David Warner (5), Mitchell Marsh (0), Prithvi Shaw (24) and Sarfaraz Khan (10) were dismissed in quick succession. However, Powell and skipper Rishabh Pant (39 off 33 balls) combined to save the innings and lead them to a respectable score in their must-win contest.

Hrithik Shokeen’s 20-run over shifted the momentum in DC’s favour but MI regained control and claimed the wickets of Pant and Powell towards the death, with Bumrah once again proving his worth and MI’s Ramandeep Singh (2/29) also pick up two wickets. Only 34 runs were scored in the final four overs and DC fell short of what could have been a challenging 170-180 target. But given the way the pitch was playing, it was perhaps above par as well. However, a sloppy bowling and fielding effort meant there was joy in the RCB camp at the end of the night.

Bumrah was player of the match.