DUBAI: Avesh Khan's bowling figures of 3-15 and an unbeaten 33 by Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Capitals beat holders Mumbai Indians by four wickets in a low-scoring Indian Premier League contest on Saturday.
Khan and spinner Axar Patel took three wickets each to help restrict five-time champions Mumbai to 129-8, a total Delhi overhauled in 19.1 overs on a sluggish Sharjah pitch.
Delhi, who have already qualified for the play-offs after MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings, now eye a top two finish at the end of the league stage in the Twenty20 tournament.
"If we finish in the top two, we have that opportunity to play that one game and make the final," said Iyer.
Rohit Sharma's Mumbai have lost three of their four matches in the revived IPL in the United Arab Emirates.
They need to win their remaining two games to have any chance of making the play-offs which will feature four teams fighting for a place in the final.
"If your batters aren't going to post runs on the board, it will be difficult to win games," said Sharma.
"We are not playing to our potential. Hopefully in the next two games, we play the way we are known for."
Khan, who shared the new ball with pace partner Anrich Nortje, took down Sharma in his first over after Delhi elected to field first and later Patel rattled the top order with his left-arm spin.
Suryakumar Yadav top-scored with 33 but the rest of the Mumbai batting faltered against a disciplined bowling attack.
Delhi wobbled in their reply after Shikhar Dhawan was run out, Prithvi Shaw fell lbw and Steve Smith was bowled by Nathan Coulter-Nile for nine.
Pant made 26 and then Iyer stayed calm in his 33-ball knock and put together unbeaten 39 runs with Ravichandran Ashwin, who hit the winning six in his 20, to take the team home.
Iyer, Khan help Delhi eye top-two league finish in IPL
https://arab.news/9smkm
Iyer, Khan help Delhi eye top-two league finish in IPL
- Khan and spinner Axar Patel took three wickets each to help restrict five-time champions Mumbai to 129-8, a total Delhi overhauled in 19.1 overs
- Rohit Sharma's Mumbai have lost three of their four matches in the revived IPL in the UAE
Kane scores as Bayern deliver comeback romp over Leipzig
- The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund
- Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break
LEIPZIG, Germany: Harry Kane scored his 21st goal of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 5-1 at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, while continuing their record-breaking campaign.
Unbeaten Bayern have dropped just four points on their way to a record-equalling tally of 50 after 18 games. Bayern’s total of 71 goals scored is also a record at this stage of a German league season.
Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break, Serge Gnabry, Kane, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Michael Olize all scoring.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said Leipzig were “twice as good as we were” in the opening half, adding “but in the second-half — my god, the boys delivered.
“We weren’t afraid and we really went for it.”
Leipzig goalscorer Romulo said “we played 75 minutes really on top, then I don’t know what happened, we turned off our minds. We have to learn something out of that.”
Leipzig were strong early and broke through after 20 minutes when Romulo snuck past Bayern’s Tah to poke in an Antonio Nusa pass from close range.
The hosts were undone in the simplest fashion just after half-time. Dayot Upamecano picked Christoph Baumgartner’s pocket and fed Gnabry, who guided the ball into the bottom corner.
Bayern took the lead after 67 minutes, once again thanks to a Leipzig mistake.
Olize’s floated cross looked harmless until Ridle Baku lost his footing, allowing an unmarked Kane time and space to blast home.
With Leipzig’s resistance broken, Tah, Pavlovic and Olize all scored in the final 10 minutes, while Jamal Musiala returned late off the bench after a six-month injury absence.
- Can rescues Dortmund -
Earlier, an Emre Can penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time saved Borussia Dortmund’s blushes in a 3-2 home win against lowly St. Pauli.
In the dying moments, VAR found a foul on Germany forward Maximilian Beier, bringing Dortmund captain Can to the spot.
“What a rollercoaster ride,” Can told Sky Germany.
“We need to do much better to settle things down and to convert our chances,” he added.
The hosts overcame a poor first half when Julian Brandt tapped in from close range just before the break. Having created the opener, Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund a two-goal buffer in the 54th minute, converting a Fabio Silva assist.
Rock-bottom St. Pauli had won just once since September but fought back into the game when James Sands and Ricky-Jade Jones scored inside 10 minutes midway through the second half to stun the hosts.
Deep into stoppage time, Jones caught Beier on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Can to convert nervelessly from the spot.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim’s Wouter Burger scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over flailing Bayer Leverkusen to climb past Leipzig into third in the table.
Burger swung in an excellent free-kick after nine minutes to give the hosts the three points.
“That was an important one,” Burger said of his free-kick. “I was practicing them a bit this morning.”
Relegation candidates last season, Hoffenheim are on track to qualify for Europe’s top competition for just the second time in their history, having last done so under now-Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann in 2017/18.
Leverkusen have now lost four of their past six, falling three points behind the Champions League placings.
Cologne beat Mainz 2-1 at home, Wolfsburg played out a 1-1 home draw with Heidenheim and hosts Hamburg were held to a scoreless draw by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
