IPL 2025: Suryakumar Yadav, Naman Dhir’s late blitzkrieg, bowlers help MI secure last playoff spot | Cricket News – Times of India

Suryakumar Yadav

Mumbai: When it mattered, the Mumbai Indians’ array of match-winners raised their fingers, whereas a badly depleted Delhi Capitals went lacking. An incredible late blitzkrieg by Suryakumar Yadav (73 not out, 43b, 7×4, 4×6) and Naman Dhir (24 not out, 8b, 2×4, 2×6), and splendid spells by the world’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah (three for 12 in 3.2 overs) and Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (three for 11 in 4 overs), helped MI secure the last playoff spot as they delivered a crushing 59-run knockout blow to a totally outplayed Delhi Capitals — badly lacking their captain Axar Patel, who was down with a nasty flu — in entrance of their cheering dwelling followers on the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday evening. Joining Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings and RCB within the playoffs, MI thus performed a ‘perfect match’ of their remaining outing of IPL 2025, earlier than taking a lap across the floor to acknowledge the assist of their loyal, enthusiastic dwelling crowd. With DC’s playoff goals ending in a nightmare, the remaining of the league matches will now be performed solely to determine the highest two spots. Going all weapons blazing within the remaining two overs of the innings — wherein they plundered 48 runs (the nineteenth by Mukesh Kumar went for 27, whereas the twentieth by Dushmantha Chameera went for 20) — Surya and Dhir helped MI end at 180 for 5 in 20 overs, at the very least 20 runs above par, after they’d struggled to search out momentum on a pitch the place the ball was gripping and turning too. Left surprised by the ultimate 12-ball assault from Surya and Dhir, DC slumped to 27 for 3 within the fifth over as stand-in captain Faf du Plessis (6), ‘Impact Player’ KL Rahul (11, hampered by a knee damage after being hit within the nets by Mukesh Kumar the earlier night), and Abhishek Porel (6) fell shortly.Quiz: Who’s that IPL participant? Premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah trapped Tristan Stubbs (2) lbw with an incoming ball earlier than uprooting the off-stump of IPL debutant Madhav Tiwari (3) with a scorcher. Extracting sharp flip, Santner accounted for Vipraj Nigam (20, caught and bowled) and Ashutosh Sharma (18, stumped), as DC, placing up a pathetic present, folded up for 121 in 18.2 overs. Few would’ve imagined that they’d crash out on the league stage itself, having gained 5 of their first six matches! Earlier, for 18 overs of their innings, MI — held again by a pitch on which the ball was stopping and turning — stored crawling on this do-or-die match for each groups. When skipper Hardik Pandya was caught at backward level by Mukesh Kumar off Dushmantha Chameera, after scratching round for 3 runs off six balls, MI, tottering at 123 for 5 within the seventeenth over, appeared to be falling brief of a par rating. And then, magic occurred — precisely when MI wanted it to. Pouncing on DC’s hapless pacers Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera like hungry tigers, Surya and his ‘partner-in-crime’ Naman Dhir took 48 off the ultimate two overs of the innings — a demolition job that included 4 sixes and as many fours, to take MI to a preventing rating after they had been requested to bat first by the guests. Going all weapons blazing after an unusually affected person stint within the center, India’s T20 captain plundered 33 off 13 balls in a whirlwind, unbeaten 57-run partnership off simply 21 balls for the sixth wicket with the equally ballistic Dhir (24, 8b, 2×4, 2×6), turning the match on its head. It was Surya who launched the offensive within the first ball of the 18th over when he dispatched Mukesh over further cowl for an excellent six to succeed in his fourth half-century of the season, earlier than Dhir took the Indian seamer additional to the cleaners by smashing again-to-again sixes off his fifth and sixth deliveries — a whip over large lengthy-on adopted by a heave to the identical half of the bottom that simply cleared the fence.

Dhir then crashed Mukesh’s last ball for a 4 previous further cowl to spherical off the loot from an over which went for 27. Troubled by an damage that noticed him stroll off the bottom after being hammered black and blue, the pacer who gave the impression to be having a high quality outing until that disastrous over with figures of 3-0-21-2, noticed his evening finish in distress with remaining figures of 4-0-48-2.Surya then clubbed Chameera for 2 consecutive sixes to deep mid-wicket within the twentieth over, and adopted it up along with his finest shot of the evening, opening the face of the bat to an ideal yorker that noticed the ball racing previous the wicketkeeper. The dashing Mumbai batter has loved super kind on this IPL with 583 runs in 13 matches at a mean of 72.87 and a strike fee of 170.46. He is at the moment the third-highest run-getter on this version.It’s additionally price noting that Dhir has made notable contributions on the No. 7 slot all through the marketing campaign, taking part in the finisher’s position to perfection.