Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals to register 1st win of the season

After four games, the Mumbai Indians have finally won their first game of the season.

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan set up the 235 mark, and Romario Shepherd smashed 32 in the last over.

Delhi lost by 29 runs despite some excellent batting from Prithvi Shaw, but Tristan Stubbs' power-hitting faltered as he didn't face a ball in the last over.

Pandya stopped the booing

Before Sunday's Mumbai Indians home game against the Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede, there was only one concern: would the home crowd jeer their new captain, Hardik Pandya?

Since the beginning of the IPL this season, the Indian all-rounder has been the target of taunts and jeers.

He was elevated to captain of the team after his transfer from Gujarat Titans.

The supporters of the five-time IPL winner were not happy with how the team benched their captain, Rohit Sharma, and they were not shy about expressing their displeasure with Pandya.

Pandya benefited from the fact that the afternoon game versus DC was part of the Mumbai Indians' Education Sports for All Day.

This meant that 18,000 youngsters, 200 of whom had special needs, from various NGOs in the city were present at the stadium.

There was wild cheering instead of jeering. To find out whether he has finally brought the audience back, Pandya will have to wait till the next game.

His 33-ball 39 would have been beneficial to him.

Rohit-Ishan give Mumbai a power start

Before Axar Patel delivered one flatter and faster to remove his leg stump, Rohit blasted through his 27-ball 49.

Ishan Kishan, his opening partner, also picked up speed during the powerplay, scoring a 42 from 23 balls.

The pair's 80-run partnership gave Mumbai the ideal start in the intense April Mumbai heat after three straight defeats.

Rohit's performance was truly remarkable as he fearlessly faced the bowlers. In the second over of the innings, his old buddy and colleague Ishant Sharma became his first victim.

He scored back-to-back boundaries against his opponent. In two balls, Ishant has let in 14 runs after throwing up two wides, one of which sailed to the boundary.

The bowler, however, responded well in the following over, delivering the next four balls without giving up a run.

After Ishant was replaced by Jhye Richardson, Rohit carried on his hitting rampage, belting back-to-back sixes over deep square leg.

The sky is falling

It was much expected that Mr. T20 Suryakumar Yadav would return.

Since he hasn't played since December, the Mumbai Indians and the Indian squad have carefully monitored his recuperation process since they anticipate him having a significant role in the T20 World Cup later this year.

His comeback, however, was cut short after a mere four minutes.

He encountered two balls, and it was clear from them that it could take him a bit longer to regain his fierce hitting ability at the top level.

With a quick yorker, South African speedster Anrich Nortje handed the Mumbai batsmen a very unwanted comeback.

Surya barely managed to catch it. Surya decided to take Nortje on and hit him over the infield, sensing that he may pick up his speed.

Jake Fraser-McGurk, the replacement fielder, timed his jump to perfection and made a spectacular grab at the edge of the circle after he failed to make the connection he was hoping for.

Shepherd's powerful strike

Before the last over, Mumbai were 202-5 and looked like they might easily reach a good 215.

But Romario Shepherd had other ideas. By hitting Nortje for 32 in the last over, he turned the tide and helped Mumbai reach 234-5.

The Guyanese batsman struck two boundaries and four sixes, and Mumbai could depend heavily on the Pollard-like hitter this season.

Bumrah's impeccable delivery leaves Shaw stunned

Jasprit Bumrah was truly exceptional. He came in the path of Prithvi Shaw's shot on the first ball of his second over. Shaw ended up scoring 66 off 40 balls.

Bumrah came over and gave Shaw his dropped bat after graciously picking it up.

Although he may have handed him his bat, he did not allow him to use it when, on the fifth ball of that over, he struck a thunderbolt at a speed of 141.3 kph. It hardly moved in the air, yet it defeated Shaw and severed his leg stump.

The chance for DC to win their second game of the season was severely damaged by the thunderbolt.

After winning the toss, DC captain Rishabh Pant said that he decided to bowl because he thought his side would have a better chance of pursuing at Wankhede.

Tristan Stubbs took up the challenge after Prithvi Shaw's performance and came close to succeeding.

With one over remaining and 34 runs required, he was smashing three sixes in the 19th over, putting him on 71 off only 25 balls.

The South African bowler Gerald Coetzee of Mumbai took three wickets and let up only four runs to win the match, hence he was the only one who failed to receive the strike.

Ultimately, the difference came from Romario Shepherd smashing 32 runs off one over to advance Mumbai Indians to a winning total.