It was a terrific comeback for Karun Nair to the Indian Premier League after a gap of almost three years. The right-handed batter scored 89 runs off 40 balls with the help of 12 fours and 5 sixes, though it came in a losing cause. He slammed Mumbai Indians’ ace pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult brutally before also smashing Hardik Pandya, who is MI’ leading wicket-taker in the ongoing season. As Nair shone with his batting performance, his old post has gone viral on social media. The post was made in 2022 in which Nair had written: “Dear cricket, give me one more chance.”
Check some posts here –
Our hearts are full pic.twitter.com/cau5zlrmcE
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 13, 2025
Karun Nair here you go pic.twitter.com/Adsj9KFGS5
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) April 13, 2025
Karun Nair pic.twitter.com/bk9jaAsKH1
— dxp (@drivexpull) April 13, 2025
Virat Kohli hit a landmark half-century and spinner Karn Sharma returned 3-36 to trigger an opposition collapse in the IPL as Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians won on Sunday.
Kohli hit 62 for his 100th half-century in T20 cricket to lead Bengaluru to a crushing nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.
The second match of the day was a thriller with Mumbai pulling off a 12-run victory to end Delhi’s winning streak in their home at Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
Chasing 206 for victory, Delhi looked to be cruising at 135-2 when Karun Nair departed on 89. Leg-spinner Karn soon triggered a collapse to bowl out the hosts for 193 in their home Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
“Winning is always special, said Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya. “Especially in games like this. You have to keep fighting and it means a lot.”
It was Delhi’s first defeat after four wins in this edition of the T20 tournament. Five-time champions Mumbai got back to winning ways with just their second victory in six matches.
Needing 23 runs off the last 12 balls, Ashutosh Sharma raised hopes with two boundaries off Jasprit Bumrah but the last three balls of the 19th over threw up three run-outs.
“I always believe fielding is something which can change the game upside down,” said Pandya. “We were switched on, didn’t give up and they got the chances and converted. Amazing.”
The win dampened the return of Delhi’s Nair, who hit a valiant knock off 40 balls in his first IPL match after three years.
Nair, 33, came in as an impact substitute with Delhi on 0-1 after Jake Fraser-McGurk fell to the first ball of the team’s chase.
Nair, who hit an unbeaten 303 against England in a home Test in 2016 but soon lost favour with the selectors, reached his fifty — his first after seven years in IPL — off 22 balls to set up the chase in a stand off 119 with Abhishek Porel.
Karn, coming in as an impact player, broke the stand as he cut short left-hander Porel’s 33-run knock, and soon left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner bowled Nair to hurt Delhi.
Karn dismissed Tristan Stubbs for one and then caught and bowled KL Rahul for 15 as Delhi lost their way.
Salt’s joy
Earlier, Tilak Varma smashed 59 and put on a key stand with Naman Dhir, who hit an unbeaten 38, to help Mumbai reach 205-5.
In game one, England’s Phil Salt set up Bengaluru’s chase of 174 with his 33-ball 65 before fellow opener Kohli took charge to anchor the chase.
The in-form Kohli smashed his third half-ton of this season and 66th in the T20 tournament to go level with Australia’s David Warner.
Warner leads the fifty count in the T20 format with 108 half-centuries and Kohli second with 100 in 401 matches. Pakistan’s Babar Azam is third with 90.
Salt set the tone of chase by clubbing Rajasthan pace bowler and England teammate Jofra Archer for a four and a six in the opening over.
Salt hit a 28-ball fifty and put on 92 with Kohli before drilling spinner Kumar Kartikeya to Yashasvi Jaiswal at midwicket.
“Always pleased to contribute to a win, especially on the road,” player of the match Salt said on his team’s fourth away win.
Kohli then shared an unbeaten stand of 83 with left-hander Devdutt Padikkal, who hit 40, to steer the team home with 15 balls to spare.
It is their fourth win in six matches and sends them into the top four of the 10-team table.
Inaugural champions Rajasthan have slumped to their fourth defeat in six outings.
Rajasthan opener Jaiswal top-scored with 75 to guide the team to 173-4 after being invited to bat first.
(With AFP Inputs)
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