Lalit Yadav’s late cameo helped Delhi Capitals register a thrilling four wickets win over Mumbai Indians in their campaign opener in IPL 2022 at the  Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.

The all-rounder played an unbeaten 48 runs innings off 38 balls to guide DC to a soothing victory. The right-handed batter hit four boundaries and two sixes to complete the chase. 

In reply to a 178-run target, Delhi Capitals have had a topsy-turvy chase. Opening batter Prithvi Shaw scored 38 off 24 before Basil Thampi got his scalp in the fourth over. His partner Tim Seifert scored 24. 

But quick dismissals of Mandeep Singh and Rishabh Pant have hurt DC’s chase.  

However, Lalit Yadav’s late cameo brought DC back into the match, with the batter playing a sensible knock in a nail-biting contest. Lalit got ample assistance from Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel, who scored an unbeaten 38 off 17.

At a time when DC were required to score runs quickly, Thakur scored 22 off 11 balls to reduce the margin.

The lower order’s contributions made big difference as Delhi Capitals got better of Mumbai Indians. 

Earlier, Pant won the toss and decided to field first. His bowlers, especially Kuldeep Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed did reasonably well. While Kuldeep Yadav got the scalps of MI captain Rohit Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh and dangerous Keiron Pollard, Khaleel picked the wickets of Tilak Verma and Tim David.

Batting
first Mumbai Indians post 177 for 5 in 20 overs, thanks to Ishan Kishan’s 81
off 48. The five-time champions got off to a flying start from their opening
duo of Rohit Sharma and Kishan, who was bought by MI for Rs 15.25 crore. Rohit
scored 41 off 32 balls before being dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav.

Kishan remained unbeaten on 81. During his magnificent knock, he hit 11 boundaries and
two sixes. However, Kuldeep Yadav’s tight spell, in which he conceded just 18 runs and took three wickets, restricted MI to a decent total.