DC vs MI Man of the Match: Who Won MOTM Award at the Arun Jaitley Stadium Today?

The recently concluded 16th match of the ongoing 16th season of the Indian Premier League turned out to be a cliffhanger out of nowhere. The last few fascinating moments of the match consisted of a Suryakumar Yadav golden duck, a dropped catch, a mis-field, a disciplined last over with only five runs to defend and truckloads of nerves.

Chasing a 173-run target at the Arun Jaitley Stadium tonight, Mumbai Indians needed a couple of runs off the last ball. Facing Delhi Capitals fast bowler Anrich Nortje (0/35), Impact Player Tim David (13*) managed to both make contact with the ball and put on display a desperate dive to complete the second run against not the best of throws from Capitals captain David Warner (51).

Needing 20 runs in the last overs, both David and all-rounder Cameron Green (17* & 0/30) hit a six in the penultimate over to bring down the equation by a large extent. Although he ended up on the losing side, Nortje bowled an inch-perfect last over without letting the two big-hitters dictate terms.

All this drama, however, never looked to be a possibility during a 50-ball 68-run second-wicket partnership between Indians captain Rohit Sharma (65) and batter Tilak Varma (41). However, Sharma, Varma and Suryakumar Yadav getting out within a seven-ball period brought the home team back into the contest in the national capital on Tuesday.

DC vs MI Man of the Match

Asked to bat first by Sharma, Delhi reached to a competitive 172 in 19.4 overs only because of vice-captain Axar Patel‘s maiden IPL half-century. Coming in to bat at No. 7 in the 13th over, the left-handed batter scored a hard-hitting 54 (25) comprising four fours and five sixes.

The hosts could’ve done even better had Warner not batted at a strike rate of 108.51 and had Mumbai fast bowler Jason Behrendorff (3/23) and spinner Piyush Chawla (3/22) not picked three wickets each. Chawla, who was calling IPL 2022 matches for Star Sports Network, has been exceptional with the ball in hand this season.

An absolute spectacle of leg-spin bowling saw the 34-year old player dismissing the likes of Manish Pandey (26), Rovman Powell (4) and Lalit Yadav (2). While Pandey was out playing a big shot, Powell and Lalit Yadav were found clueless against Chawla’s masterly googlies tonight.

While Chawla would’ve been a fitting winner of the Player of the Match award, the jury opted to hand the same to Sharma for scoring an IPL half-century after 24 innings. Sharma, who scored 65 (45) with the help of six fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 144.44, expressed relief at winning their first match of the season.

“Winning the game is the most important. We have been working hard from the first game. We had a camp in Mumbai, getting the result [in our favour] feels good. First win is always special,” Sharma told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.