Shepherd blasts 32 in final over as Mumbai take first IPL win - GulfToday

Shepherd blasts 32 in final over as Mumbai take first IPL win

Shepherd-MumbaiIndians

Romario Shepherd (L) celebrates with his teammate Rohit Sharma (R) after taking the wicket of David Warner during the IPL match in Mumbai on Sunday. AFP

Romario Shepherd smashed 32 runs off the 20th over for Mumbai Indians to set up their first victory of this Indian Premier League (IPL) season as they beat Delhi Capitals by 29 runs on Sunday.

Shepherd crashed a 10-ball 39 in an unbeaten stand of 53 off 13 deliveries with Tim David, who struck 45, to steer Mumbai to 234-5 at their home Wankhede Stadium.

Delhi finished on 205-8, despite Tristan Stubbs' unbeaten 25-ball 71. They slumped to the bottom of the 10-team table.

Five-time IPL winners Mumbai bounced back from losing their first three games to reduce the pressure on skipper Hardik Pandya, who has been booed by fans after replacing Rohit Sharma as captain ahead of this edition.

"I would like to have this feeling more often than not," said Pandya after the victory. "Lot of hard work, hard to clear our minds, and everything clicked."

"There was a lot of love and care going around, everyone knows we lost three games but the belief and backing was there, everyone believes we needed just one win and today was the start," Pandya said.

Ambaniwife-MumbaiIndians Nita Ambani gestures towards the crowd after her team won the match against Delhi Capitals. AP

David smashed a six and four at the end of the 19th over before Shepherd walloped Anrich Nortje for four sixes and two fours in the last over as Mumbai took 42 runs from the final eight balls.

Rohit (49) and Ishan Kishan (42) laid the foundations for the total in an 80-run opening stand before Axar Patel sent the two back in the pavilion with his left-arm spin.

Returning batsman Suryakumar Yadav, who missed the first three losses injured, survived a toe-crushing yorker by Nortje on his first ball but then miscued the next delivery to mid-on for a two-ball duck.

Rohat-MumbaiIndians Hardik Pandya (C) celebrates with his teammates Rohit Sharma (R) and Tim David (L) after the dismissal of David Warner. AFP

Mumbai lost another wicket before Pandya and David put on 60 to steady the innings ahead of Shepherd's explosive knock.

In reply, Prithvi Shaw hit 66 after losing opening partner David Warner for 10 off Shepherd's seam bowling. Shaw and the left-handed Abhishek Porel, who hit 41, put on 88 for the second wicket before Jasprit Bumrah removed both.

South Africa's Stubbs raised a fifty in 19 balls but the asking rate kept climbing and Gerald Coetzee took three wickets in the final over to return figures of 4-34.

 

Agence France-Presse

Related articles