New Delhi [India], April 14 : Mumbai Indians all-rounder Mitchell Santner felt the hat-trick of run-outs that brought the gripping affair against Delhi Capitals to its conclusion was "crazy". He described Karun Nair's blistering 89 as "special" and hailed his experienced compatriot Karn Sharma for his massive impact.
In one of the games of the season, the Capitals, who were the sole unbeaten side in the tournament before squaring off against Mumbai, lost their nerves in the climax of an electrifying chase. They choked under pressure despite enjoying a commanding position throughout the majority of the daunting 206-run chase at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Nair's sizzling display with the bat that raised the temperature in the national capital featured a wide array of shots that came straight out of his loaded arsenal. Even though his 89 from a mere 40 deliveries set the tone of the chase, a middle-order and tail-end collapse buried DC's hopes of victory.
When the equation came down to 15 from nine deliveries, Ashutosh Sharma stood at the striker's end after hammering two consecutive boundaries off Jasprit Bumrah. MI needed something special, and it came from a series of magical efforts in the field.
Ashutosh pushed for a double, but a pinpoint throw from Will Jacks caught the uncapped star inches short of his ground despite a big dive. On the next delivery, Raj Bawa's precise throw to Ryan Rickelton led to Kuldeep Yadav's run out.
With Mumbai one wicket away from a memorable triumph, Santner closed the deal with a direct throw at the stumps to run out Mohit Sharma and script a vital 12-run triumph for the visitors.
"Nice to get over the line. Every game seems to be close in IPL. This was one hell of a game here in Delhi. It's crazy to finish off with three run-outs. It was one of those games where we were kind of behind for a bit, and then he managed to get us right back. The bowling coach was pretty happy. To nail six in a row in an over was amazing," Santner said after the match.
While the hat-trick of run-outs sealed the deal for Mumbai, it was seasoned Karn Sharma's leg-spin that got things moving for Mumbai. He swayed the momentum in Mumbai's favour by breaking the backbone of DC's middle order, leading to a collapse against the run of play.
He broke the 119-run partnership between Nair and Porel by removing the latter on 33(25). Tristan Stubbs tried to take on Karn but holed it straight to Naman Dhir. Moments later, KL Rahul tried to slog-sweep Karn but skewed the ball straight back to the spinner.
While Santner boasted two priceless scalps, he hailed the experienced ball-tweaker for his "massive" impact that derailed DC's on-track chase with figures of 3/36. The New Zealand white-ball skipper didn't forget to give a shout-out to Nair as well for his explosive display with the bat.
"To get three wickets by Karn was massive; it was the only way to slow them down. We had to take wickets in the middle overs. The spinners who have bowled defensively have done well (in the tournament). Karun Nair's innings was special, playing his first game this season," he added.