New Delhi, 04 April (H.S.):
Mumbai Indians posted 162/6 in 20 overs, setting Delhi Capitals a 163-run victory target in IPL 2026's eighth match at Arun Jaitley Stadium, propelled by stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav's composed 51.
DC skipper Axar Patel won the toss and elected to field first. MI stumbled early, losing Ryan Rickelton (9) at 18, caught by Axar off Mukesh Kumar at mid-off, followed by Tilak Varma (0) caught off his own bowling.
Suryakumar eased pressure with an opening boundary; Rohit Sharma survived a dropped catch and DRS reprieve off Kuldeep Yadav—bat not touching pad on sweep appeal—sparking light banter as Rohit thumbs-upped Kuldeep.
Powerplay sluggish, MI ignited with Rohit's towering six off Nikhil Nigam (7th over) and Suryakumar's backward square leg maximum off Axar. Rohit-Suryakumar added 53 for fourth wicket before Axar induced Rohit's (35 off 26, 5x4, 1x6) catch at 73/3 (10th over).
Sherfane Rutherford (5) holed out off Vipraj Nigam to Mukesh (12th over). Suryakumar-Naman Dhir rebuilt with 37 off 22 (5th wicket), Suryakumar reaching fifty off 34 before LBW to Lungi Ngidi (16th over: 51 off 36, 3x4, 2x6).
Dhir (28 off 21, 2x4, 1x6) fell to T Natarajan (19th over); Mitchell Santner (18* off 13, 2x4) and Corbin Bosch (11* off 4, 2x4) added unbeaten 16 off 8 to close.
DC bowlers: Mukesh Kumar 2/0; Axar Patel, Lungi Ngidi, Vipraj Nigam, T Natarajan 1 each.
Hardik Pandya sidelined (ill), Suryakumar termed toss irrelevant. DC unchanged; MI swapped Trent Boult for Bosch-Chahar, Santner for AM Gajnafar.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
