IPL 2025, DC vs MI: Karun Nair’s fiery 89 off 40 wasn’t enough as Mumbai roared back to seal the win and climb to 7th.
Brief scores: MI 205/5 (Tilak Verma 59, Kuldeep Yadav 2/23) beat DC 193 (Karun Nair 89, Karn Sharma 3/36) by 12 runs.
Mumbai Indians (MI) won a thriller by 12 runs against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Delhi in IPL 2025 on Sunday. Delhi were cruising in their chase of 206 runs before Mumbai produced a brilliant bowling and fielding display to restrict them for 193. It was Mumbai’s second win of the season in 6 games, while Delhi suffered their first loss in five games.
Highlights of DC vs MI game
Tilak-Naman’s partnership takes Mumbai past 200
Mumbai Indians were placed at 138/4 in the 15th over when Naman Dhir walked out to join Tilak Varma in the middle. The two combined to post a stand of 62 runs for the fifth wicket in 5.3 overs. They ensured that Mumbai posted a good total of 205 against a quality bowling attack.
The duo complemented each other brilliantly, rotating the strike well and taking calculated risk to get the boundaries. Tilak was the initial aggressor of the stand before Dhir unleashed his big strokes. The two scored three fours in Mitchell Starc’s over – the 18th of the innings. Dhir played a good cameo of a 17-ball 38 not out with three fours and two sixes. Tilak was dismissed in the last over, holing out in the deep for a well-made 33-ball 59 with six fours and three sixes.
Kuldeep dazzles with 2/23
Mumbai opener Ryan Rickleton was looking dangerous and set for a big score before Kuldeep Yadav cut his stay short. Kuldeep was bang on with his line and length, giving nothing away for batters to free their arms. In his first over, he dismissed Rickleton with a googly that the batter failed to read.
In his third over, Kuldeep got Suryakumar Yadav to hole out in the deep with another wrong one. This wicket broke a crucial stand of 60 runs between SKY and Tilak, bringing Delhi back into the game. While other Delhi bowlers were conceding over 9 runs per over, Kuldeep gave away 5.75 runs per over and took two important wickets.
Read More: IPL 2025, RCB vs DC, Highlights: Rahul’s 93*, Vipraj-Kuldeep 4-35 help Delhi maintain clean sheet
Making an IMPACT with INTENT 👊
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 13, 2025
Karun Nair takes on Jasprit Bumrah to reach his #TATAIPL FIFTY after 7⃣ years 💙
Updates ▶ https://t.co/sp4ar866UD#DCvMI | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/C7a59EkjxD
Karun Nair makes memorable IPL return
Karun Nair has carried forward his good form in domestic cricket into the IPL as he struck a brilliant 40-ball 89 with 12 fours and five sixes in his first match for Delhi. Coming out to bat at No 3 as an Impact Player on the second ball of the innings, Nair didn’t waste much time to smash the ball to all parts of the ground.
He smacked three fours bowled off Trent Boult in the second over of the innings. He made one of the best T20 bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah look toothless, smashing three fours and two sixes of the bowler’s first two overs. Nair reserved his best for Bumrah’s second over when he first flicked the first ball for a six, drove the second ball for four in the point region, and lofted a six inside out off a full-pitched delivery on the fifth ball. Nair smashed, cut, drove, reverse swept, and played ramp shots with aplomb and was a treat to watch.
Nair was playing his first IPL game since the 2022 season, and he has definitely turned back the clock. It took a brilliant away-going delivery from Mitchell Santner to dismiss him. For the record, Nair is coming off a brilliant domestic season where he scored 255 runs in six innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, aggregated 542 runs without getting dismissed in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and made 863 runs in a successful Ranji Trophy season for Vidarbha.
Karn Sharma leads fightback, fielding tops for Mumbai
Delhi were cruising to the target of 206 before Mumbai’s Impact Player Karn Sharma produced a brilliant bowling spell of 3/36 to bring his team back into the game. Delhi were placed at 119/1 in 10.1 overs before Karn got Abishek Porel to hole out in the deep. However, Karn got the biggest breakthrough when he got KL Rahul to top-edge a sweep back to him. He also dismissed the dangerous Tristan Stubbs to put Delhi on the backfoot.
However, Delhi were still in the game with Ashutosh Sharma at the crease. Mumbai brought out a good fielding display to affect three straight run-outs in the penultimate over to win the match. Also, some good catching in the deep by Mumbai fielders stood out as they defended a sizable total.
Read More: IPL 2025, MI vs RCB, Hits & Flops: Bengaluru hold their own in close clash with Mumbai
Way forward
This win has injected a new life into Mumbai’s campaign. This is just the second win of the season for them in six games, lifting them to the seventh position on the points table. They now need to try and win as many games as possible to stay in the hunt for the play-offs. They’ll next face Hyderabad on April 17.
Delhi suffered their first loss of the season, and are in the second spot on the points table. They still remain the team to beat this season despite the defeat. They’ll next take on Rajasthan on April 16.
Read More: IPL 2025: Top three spells in first three weeks
Top Twitter/X reactions from DC vs MI, Delhi, IPL 2025
Mumbai Indian’s fielding was high class. Brilliant 17th over from Trent Boult. Karn sharma played very crucial role but batting from Tilak Verma & finish from Naman Dhir was the difference.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 13, 2025
Karun Nair’s terrific comeback story upstaged by Karn Sharma’s superb spell paving way for a remarkable MI win. In-forn Rahul’s wicket was turning point, compounded by 3 run outs. But how well MI bowled despite Boult & Pandya going wicketless & Bumrah going for plenty!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 13, 2025
A little bit of dew, a little more of Karun Nair is the recipe for @DelhiCapitals.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 13, 2025
Karun Nair is showing all of us why playing domestic cricket & current form is so so important 👏
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 13, 2025
Take a bow @karun126!! What a COMEBACKKKKKKK!!! 🤗💪🏾
— Robbie Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) April 13, 2025
Just so happy for a story like Karun Nair reaching more people .. He deserved a chance, he created a chance and he was ready when it came! Well done @karun126
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) April 13, 2025
Karun Nair made batting look simple today. We cannot waste this form.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 13, 2025
Karun Nair’s success feels so personal to me. Well done @karun126. Keep the runs coming. That India comeback is not far away. Hinge aadta iru #IPL2025
— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) April 13, 2025
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