Shepherd, David and Bumrah help Mumbai get off the mark

Having lost the first three games, Mumbai Indians finally opened their account in IPL 2024 as they beat Delhi Capitals by 29 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.

After being sent in, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan gave Mumbai a start of 80 in seven overs. Capitals staged a comeback in the middle overs but Tim David (45* off 21) and Romario Shepherd (39* off 10) muscled 96 in the last five overs - Shepherd hit Anrich Nortje for 32 in the 20th - to lift Mumbai to a daunting 234 for 5.

Prithvi Shaw kept Capitals in the contest with 66 off 40 balls. After he got out, Tristan Stubbs took over and ransacked an unbeaten 71 off 25 balls. But that Nortje over proved to be the difference in the end as Capitals fell short by 29 runs.

Given a flat pitch and small boundaries at the Wankhede, Mumbai knew they needed to score big, and Rohit and Kishan laid the perfect foundation.

Kishan started by hitting Khaleel Ahmed for three fours in the seamer's first two overs. From the other end, Rohit hit Ishant Sharma for two successive fours. He took it a notch higher against Jhye Richardson by launching him for two back-to-back sixes.

Seeing the fast bowlers leaking runs, Rishabh Pant turned to his spinners. But Rohit was into overdrive by now. In the next nine balls, he hit four fours and a six against Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav. At the end of six overs, he had moved to 49 off 23 balls and Mumbai to 75 for no loss.

Once the field restrictions were relaxed, Capitals staged a comeback with Axar dismissing Rohit. On the last ball of the seventh over, Rohit stepped out of his crease but Axar bowled it short and fast to beat the batter and rattle his stumps.

In the next over, Nortje spoiled Suryakumar Yadav's return. Nortje welcomed him to the crease with a searing yorker before having him caught at mid-on for a two-ball duck.

Thanks to their quick start, Mumbai reached 100 in the tenth over before Axar hurt them again. Having hit a six off the previous ball, Ishan Kishan smashed the next to the left of Axar who stretched out his hand to pull off a stunning return catch.

With Hardik Pandya taking his time - he was on 19 off 20 balls at one point - Mumbai could manage only 63 runs in the nine overs after the powerplay.

Mumbai were 138 for 4 after 15 overs. At that stage, Capitals must have harboured hopes of restricting them under 200. David and Shepherd, though, had other plans.

David started the 16th over by smashing Richardson for a six. In the next two overs, he hit two more sixes and Hardik also chipped in with one but it was Shepherd who made the bigger dent. In the 20th over, he bludgeoned Nortje for 4, 6, 6, 6, 4, 6 to crush Capitals' morale.

Shepherd was not done hurting Capitals. In the fourth over, he had David Warner holing out to mid-on with a wide slower ball.

Shaw was slow to start. After four overs, he was on 13 off 15 but soon found his range. In the eighth over, he hit Piyush Chawla for 6, 4, 4 off successive deliveries. With a pulled four off Gerald Coetzee, he brought up his half-century, off 31 balls.

Along with Abishek Porel, Shaw took Capitals past 100 in the 11th over but Bumrah ended his innings on 66 by uprooting the leg stump with a searing yorker.

Stubbs wasted no time to get going. Facing his third ball, he heaved Chawla over deep midwicket for a six and repeated the dose three balls later. Bumrah dismissed Porel for 41 off 31, and Pant fell cheaply, but Stubbs kept going.

He hit Akash Madhwal for two fours and a six on the first three balls of the 17th over and brought up his half-century - his second in two games - off just 19 balls.

His hitting meant Capitals reached 172 for 4 after 17 overs, five runs ahead of Mumbai at the same stage. But Bumrah conceded only eight in the next to make it 55 needed from two overs.

Stubbs hit two sixes off Shepherd at the start of the 19th and ended it with another six. But with little support from the other end, Capitals were left needing 34 from six balls. Coetzee conceded only four and also picked up three wickets as Stubbs got stuck at the non-striker's end.