When Ramandeep Singh struck the winning runs, not one but two camps jumped in joy. First, it was the Mumbai Indians dugout where there was happiness all over. Second, it were the RCB players, who would thank Mumbai for their massive favour by helping them qualify for the IPL 2022 playoffs with a win over Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, May 21. Chants of RCB reverberated throughout the stadium as the five-time champions signed off from what has been a disappointing season, with a win. Interestingly, it came against Delhi Capitals, a side who had beaten them in their first game to start their streak of losses.

Delhi Capitals though had everything under control. They did not start well with the bat but a good finish helped them get to a competitive 159/7. With the ball, they began brilliantly but it was two defining moments that completely turned the game around in Mumbai's favour. And Delhi captain Rishabh Pant, unfortunately, found himself to be the culprit in both. First, he dropped a sitter to dismiss Dewald Brevis, who was batting on 25 then. Aiming to hit Kuldeep Yadav for a six, the young Proteas batter skied it and Pant, despite being in a comfortable position, failed to hold on to the catch.

The second one came when Shardul Thakur had gotten rid of Brevis for 37 runs. In walked Tim David and he edged the very first ball to Pant behind the stumps. The on-field umpire did not give it out and Pant did not opt for the review as well. Later, his shoulders dropped when TV replays showed a clear nick. That was the killer blow as the right-hander smashed his way to 34 off just 11 deliveries to help Mumbai win the contest and send his former team RCB to the playoffs.

Delhi, being put to bat, lost a total of four wickets in the first 8.4 overs. A steady 75-run stand between Pant (39) and Rovman Powell (43) did put their innings back on track but it was late flourish from Axar Patel (19) that saw them get to 159/7.  Jasprit Bumrah was the wrecker-in-chief with three wickets for 25 runs.

Here are some stat highlights of the game:

#Delhi Capitals failed to qualify for the IPL playoffs for the first time since 2018.

#For the first time, Mumbai Indians ended last on the points table,

#This was also the first time that Rohit Sharma did not score a single fifty in one IPL season.

#RCB entered the IPL playoffs for the third consecutive year.

With this game done, all eyes would now turn to the final league stage fixture between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings on Sunday, May 22.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2022 12:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).