Akshar made 34 and picked 2 wickets, while Mukesh defended 13 runs in the last over.
The hero for the DC team were Akshar Patel, who did extremely well with both the bat and the ball and Mukesh Kumar who bowled a brilliant final over, defending 13 runs.
Akshar Patel made 34 runs with the bat, adding much needed cushion with Manish Pandey, who also made 34 as DC made 144/9 in 20 overs.
Akshar then turned the tide with the ball, as he picked 2/21 and along with Anrich Nortje (2/33) broke the back of the SRH batting in the chase on a tough pitch. The left-handed Gujarat all-rounder has been in the form of his life and improved his stocks as a batter.
The Gujarat all-rounder has scored 182 runs in 7 matches for Delhi Capitals at an average of 30 and a strike rate of 130.
Akshar Patel and Mukesh Kumar got into conversation after the DC win over SRH and Akshar spoke about his improved performances. Akshar Patel said his secret to success in the recent past has been his wife, Meha Patel. He tied the knot with Meha, who is a dietician, earlier this year.
"Lady luck? Yes, the secret is lady luck. And also there is confidence, confidence in my batting ability because of the way I have been batting over the last 1 year. I am carrying forward that confidence. And when things are going well, I want to be consistent, I want to carry the form forward. That's how i think. Lady luck is also a dietician,” Akshar told Mukesh in a video on IPL social media.
Axar Patel revealed that he was having coffee in the dressing room when Delhi Capitals were going at 57 for 2, which he had to ditch to quickly pad up as DC lost 3 wickets in an over bowled by Washington Sundar.
"I ordered a coffee. I like to have coffee before I go out to bat. So I thought, 2 wickets have fallen, I will have some coffee. The coffee cup was in my hand only when a couple of players came running and told me 'bhai, go, it's your turn to bat'. Coffee also turned cold and I had to go out. I went had a word with Manish Pandey. I asked him about the pitch. He also said he had faced only one ball. But people told me the pitch was slow. We wanted to take the game deep. We were able to build a partnership," Akshar said.
Mukesh Kumar said he tried his best to be calm under pressure.
"I try my best to keep myself cool in such pressure situations. I will be able to execute my plans better if my nerves are under control. I think, you'll remember, when we were playing the practice match, I bowled to you only with 4 fielders outside the ring. I realised that at times, we might face such a situation in the match and it came in handy yesterday (on Monday)," Mukesh Kumar said.
Joking with Mukesh, Axar Patel said: "I pray that you don’t get to bowl the last over again so that your nerves are under control."
Delhi will next face Sunrisers again, this time in Delhi on April 29.
(IPL inputs)