"We've been cold": Faf du Plessis blames Axar Patel's absence for DC’s heavy defeat to MI

Faf du Plessis-led Delhi Capitals (DC) participated in their 13th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Wednesday, May 21.

Delhi Capitals (DC) lost the Match Number 63 of IPL 2025 by 59 runs against the Hardik Pandya-led team at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Also Read:Watch: Mitchell Santner Bowls 2 Dream Deliveries To Dismiss Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi Inside An Over

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We were excellent today in the field - Faf du Plessis

Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match. They got off to a good start in the innings as Mustafizur Rahman, Mukesh Kumar, and Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, and Ryan Rickelton inside 7 overs.

However, they were poor in the death overs and allowed MI to post 180/5 on the board. Mukesh Kumar (2/48), Kuldeep Yadav (1/22), Mustafizur Rahman (1/30), and Dushmantha Chameera (1/54) were among the wickets for DC. Chasing the target, Delhi Capitals' batters looked miserable, and they got bowled out for 121 in 18.2 overs.

Speaking after the match, Faf du Plessis lauded his teammates for an excellent performance in the first innings but was disappointed with the bowlers leaking 48 runs in the last two overs. He said:

"We were excellent today in the field. The guys showed great fight. The bowlers pitched up, obviously not the easiest pitch to bat on, probably made the bowlers' job a little bit easier. Still, it's a very strong batting line-up and I thought we were excellent and then just let it slip in the last 2 overs. Momentum is a real thing in cricket, the way that they counter-punched to get almost 50 in the last 2 overs, all the hard work that we did for 17-18 overs ... lost that momentum."

Sums up pretty much our season, we've been cold - Faf du Plessis

Faf du Plessis opined that to beat the Mumbai Indians, they needed to be at their best throughout the match, but they failed to do that. Faf du Plessis said:

"If you looked at the two teams before today's fixture, it was a case of David and Goliath, I enjoy that because it gives guys the opportunity to really play together as a team.

"Credit to them, Rizvi today showed some signs, he's got some talent there. When you're playing against a powerful team like this, you need to be at your best all the time and unfortunately for 17-18 overs we were and then the last two overs we were pretty average."

Faf du Plessis further said that the absence of 'ill' Axar Patel hurt them badly, and a poor performance against the Mumbai Indians summed up their season, as they were very poor and cold in the last few matches. Faf du Plessis elaborated:

"With the bat, you need a good start on a surface like that and we didn't get going at all with the bat. Sums up pretty much our season, we've been cold in either batting or bowling in the last 6-7 games. To be in the top-four in the IPL, you can't afford to do that.

"(On missing Axar and Starc) Especially Axar on a wicket like that. If you look at the way Mitch Santner bowled, they are similar bowlers. Axar is an internationally proven bowler. Starc is a fantastic bowler, a spinner on a wicket like that is worth gold."

DC lost the previous IPL match against MI

Delhi Capitals faced a heartbreaking 12-run defeat at home against Mumbai Indians on April 13, 2025, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Despite a batting brilliance from Karun Nair, DC failed to chase the target and folded for 193 in 19 overs.

Opting to bowl first, DC bowlers turned out to be very expensive and leaked a lot of runs. However, good performances from spinners Kuldeep Yadav (2/23) and Vipraj Nigam (2/41), as well as pacer Mukesh Kumar (1/38), saw Delhi Capitals restrict the Mumbai Indians to a total of 205/5.

Chasing 206, DC lost Jake Fraser-McGurk on the first ball. However, Karun Nair didn't let the loss of an early wicket affect the team as he slammed a brutal 89 runs off 40 balls with 12 fours and 5 sixes to keep DC in the hunt.

He got good support from Abishek Porel (33), but regular wickets hurt their momentum. Nair was eventually dismissed by a jaffa from Mitchell Santner in the 12th over, and DC’s chase unraveled. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and a hat-trick of run-outs in the end saw them get all out for 193 in the 19th over.