New Delhi: 

A penetrating performance from a formidable bowling line-up enabled Mumbai Indians to beat their IPL 2025 play-offs rival Delhi Capitals by 59 runs to qualify for the last four stage on Wednesday.

The right hander smashed seven boundaries and four sixes in his 43-ball 73 not out knock, stitching up two important partnerships that helped revive a faltering innings.

Surya and Tilak Verma (27, 27 balls) put together 55 runs for the fourth wicket and towards the end found in able ally in Naman Dhir (24 off 8 balls)with whom he added another 57 runs from 21 balls.

In the last two overs, Surya and Dhir blasted five sixes and four boundaries to add 48 runs to the Mumbai innings and tilt the momentum in their favour.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians: 180 for five in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 73 not out; Mukesh Kumar 2/48).

Delhi Capitals: 121 allout in 18.2 overs (Sameer Rizvi 39; Mitchell Santner 3/11, Jasprit Bumrah 3/12)

Surya shines

Earlier, India’s T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav blasted Delhi bowlers to all corners of the Wankhede to pull Mumbai to a competitive 180/5.

Considering the sluggish nature of the surface, it was a decent score as Delhi spinners Kuldeep Yadav (1/25) and Vipraj Nigam (0/25) enjoyed purchase from the track.

Yadav dismissed Ryan Rickelton (25, 18 balls) to claim his 100th IPL wicket, in his 97th match and also put brakes on Mumbai’s run-scoring intentions.

Suryakumar then dug deep to get the scoreboard ticking against spinners whose delivered gripped and turned and seamers who were keen to use slow cutters to make run-making difficult.

Mitchell Santner (3/11), Jasprit Bumrah (3/12) led a bowling attack to defend a 181-run target at the Wankhede Stadium for Mumbai to claim the lone remaining spot in the play-offs after Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings prior qualification.

This after Suryakumar Yadav bludgeoned a 43-ball unbeaten 73 to lift hosts Mumbai to a competitive 180 for 5. Generally teams need bigger scores to defend successfully at the Wankhede, but on a slowish track, Delhi batters found it difficult to score runs of Mumbai’s strong bowling line-up.

WIrh 16 points from 13 matches, Mumbai entered the play-offs stage for the 11th time. They are fourth in the standings behind GT (18 points from 12 games), RCB (17 from 12) and PBKS (17 from 12, third on inferior run rate).

Delhi have 13 points after 13 matches and now are poised to finish out side the top four.

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