[Watch] Abishek Porel takes a spectacular one-handed catch to dismiss MI captain Rohit Sharma
Delhi Capitals (DC) wicket-keeper batsman Abishek Porel pulled off one of the best catches in this year's IPL to dismiss Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday (April 11).
With both teams desperate for a win to open their tally in the points table, Rohit Sharma played a match-winning knock of 65 from 45 deliveries before departing off the bowling of Mustafizur Rahman. The decision was referred to the TV umpire to check for a bump ball, but replays provided conclusive evidence that the ball had gone straight off the outside edge.
Rohit's dismissal came when the match was hanging by a thread, with MI still requiring 30 from 19 deliveries. Porel had to dive at full stretch to his right to pull off a sensational one-handed catch to complete the dismissal.
Check out this video of Porel's spectacular effort:
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CTACH OF THE TOURNAMENT SO FAR, WHAT A TAKE ABHISHEK POREL. to dismiss Rohit Sharma
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The Mumbai Indians won the toss and fielded first on a slow, two-paced wicket at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. DC skipper David Warner labored with the bat once again as he struggled in his scratchy 51 off 47 deliveries.
The real impetus came later in the innings from all-rounder Axar Patel, who smashed a critical 54 off just 25 deliveries. Patel's innings consisted of four 4's and five 6's as he took Delhi to a competitive total of 172.
In reply, MI started all guns blazing with an opening partnership of 71 off just 44 balls. Tilak Varma came in at No. 3 to keep the right-left combination going and combined with Rohit to take Mumbai to 139 in 15.4 overs. However, Varma's dismissal triggered a mini collapse as MI lost three wickets for four runs in seven balls.
Just when it seemed as if DC could pull off a thrilling victory, the Aussie combination of Tim David and Cameron Green put on an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 30 to lead the Mumbai Indians to a last-ball win.
"I wanted to make full use of the powerplay" - MI skipper Rohit Sharma after the last-ball win against DC
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was relieved that the team finally got over the hump against the Delhi Capitals to register their first victory in IPL 2023. The skipper also made his first half-century in the IPL in over two years.
Rohit felt the pitch was similar to the one in the second Test against Australia in the recently concluded four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit Said:
"Obviously, winning the game is the most important thing and it's a great feeling to cross the line.We recently played a Test match here and this pitch didn't look different to that and looked dry. So, I thought it was important to get the slower bowlers into the game quickly."
He also spoke on the need for him to go hard during the powerplay:
"When I went to bat, I wanted to make full use of the powerplay because as the game went on, I thought it would be tough with the couple of quality spinners they had."
The defeat put the Delhi Capitals in a disastrous position with four losses in four games. They will travel to Bengaluru to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, April 15.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians will have four days off before taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at home on Sunday, April 16.