 "Faf du Plessis admits DC 'let it slip' in last two overs of MI innings: 'Sums up pretty much our season'")
Faf du Plessis, filling in for Axar Patel as Delhi Capitals captain, admitted his team “let it slip” in the last two overs of the Mumbai Indians innings following their 59-run thrashing at the hands of Hardik Pandya's men at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. Du Plessis added that DC had been “cold in either batting or bowling” in the second half of their season, and it was a “fair reflection” that they failed to reach the playoffs of the ongoing Indian Premier League season.
LIVE | India squad for England Tour: Pant joins Gill and Bumrah in three-horse captaincy race
Du Plessis rues ’loss of momentum’ in lopsided defeat at Wankhede
Thanks to Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 73 off 43 balls along with Naman Dhir’s handy cameo of 24 not out off 8 balls, MI posted what proved to be a challenging total of 180/5 on what was a tricky wicket at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
And Surya’s presence till the end of the innings not only helped MI cross 150, the five-time champions ended up plundering 48 runs in the last two overs, with Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera conceding 27 and 21 runs respectively.
The last two overs undid their hard work earlier in the evening, especially by the two spinners Kuldeep Yadav (1/22 from 4) and Vipraj Nigam (0/25 from 4) whose disciplined bowling in the middle overs ensured MI did not breach the century mark until the 14th over.
𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁: Raining boundaries ⚡️💪
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 21, 2025
A breathtaking finishing act from Naman Dhir and Surya Kumar Yadav 🔥
Watch ▶ https://t.co/GohFckV47z#TATAIPL | #MIvDC | @mipaltan pic.twitter.com/VihZcxKeJI
“We were excellent today in the field. The guys showed great fight. The bowlers pitched up, obviously not the easiest pitch to bat on, probably made the bowlers’ job a little bit easier. But still, it’s a very strong batting line-up and I thought we were excellent and then just let it slip there in the last two overs. Momentum is a real thing in cricket, the way that they counter-punched to get almost 50 in the last 2 overs, all the hard work that we did for 17-18 overs … lost that momentum,” du Plessis said after the Capitals became the final team to bow out of the playoffs race.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“If you looked at the two teams before today’s fixture, it was a case of David and Goliath, I enjoy that because it gives guys the opportunity to really play together as a team, so credit to them. Rizvi today showed some signs, he’s got some talent there.
“When you’re playing against a powerful team like this, you need to be at your best all the time and unfortunately for 17-18 overs we were and then the last two overs we were pretty average, With the bat, you need a good start on a surface like that and we didn’t get going at all with the bat. Sums up pretty much our season, we’ve been cold in either batting or bowling in the last six or seven games. To be in the top four in the IPL, you can’t afford to do that. So probably a fair reflection not to make that top four,” the South African added.
Surya, meanwhile, dedicated the ‘Player of the Match’ trophy to his wife, narrating how she had reminded him of the fact that it was the only award that was missing from his cabinet this season. The senior batter, who leads India in T20Is, added that it was important for one batter to bat deep and that a “15-20 run over” would eventually follow if he weathered the storm and stayed till the end.
“It’s been 13 games now. My wife told me a sweet story today. She said you’ve got all the awards except MoM. This award is special today. From team’s point of view the knock was important, and also this trophy is for her. She waits for such moments and we celebrate it obviously, looking forward to it,” Surya revealed while accepting the Player of the Match award amid heavy rain.
“Was important for a single batter to bat till the end. We knew there was one over of 15-20 runs somewhere so we had to wait till the end. The way Naman came in and shared that energy with me was also a turning point,” he added.
‘We would’ve been very happy to get 160’: Pandya
While Mumbai Indians made a superb recovery with the bat after their slowdown in the middle overs, they were thoroughly dominant with the ball throughout Delhi Capitals’ chase. Powerplay specialists Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult and spin-bowling all-rounder Will Jacks struck inside the powerplay to reduce DC to 49/3.
However, it was the clinical spells by Mitchell Santner (3/11) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/12) that ensured that the game was done and dusted before the DC innings had even reached the death overs.
Sameer Rizvi top-scored for the Capitals with a knock of 39 off 36 deliveries and forged handy partnerships with Vipraj Nigam (20) and Ashutosh Sharma (18).
Santner, however, ended DC’s hopes by removing Rizvi and Ashutosh in a space of four deliveries to sign off with a match-winning performance in his first appearance in nearly a month.
Bumrah later collected the final wicket of the match by castling Mustafizur Rahman for a golden duck in the penultimate over.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya, who has led the five-time champions to seven wins in their last eight games after losing four out of their first five matches of the season, heaped praise on Santner and Bumrah for their “control and perfection”.
“I can throw the ball to them (Santner and Bumrah) whenever I want, they bring such control and perfection which makes my job very easy. We would’ve been very happy to get 160 but the way Naman and Surya finished it. Especially Naman, to come out and just hit on a difficult track was outstanding,” Pandya said in a post-match interview that was cut short due to rain.
Both DC and MI face Punjab Kings in Jaipur in their final league match of the season. However, while Delhi will be playing for pride, Mumbai will be facing Shreyas Iyer’s side hoping to finish among the top two – for which they will need favourable results in other games besides a ‘W’ on their part.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
