Shreyas Iyer was a dejected captain as Delhi Capitals suffered an embarrassing 40-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians at Kotla on Thursday (April 18).

Batting first, MI rode on Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock’s 57-run opening stand and Pandya brothers’ stellar cameos to post 168/5 on the board. Delhi bowlers conceded 50 runs in the last three overs on a sluggish Kotla pitch to lose the momentum.

Chasing the target, DC got off to an impressive start with Shikhar Dhawan and Prithiv Shaw adding 49 runs for the first wicket. However, MI leg-spinner Rahul Chahar ruined Delhi’s stellar start by claiming three wickets in quick succession. Chahar got rid of Dhawan (35), Shaw (20) and Shreyas Iyer (3) while Krunal removed Colin Munro (3) to reduce DC to 63/4. Afterwards, things went downhill for the hosts and they were eventually restricted to 128/9 in 20 overs.

Speaking after the match, DC skipper Shreyas Iyer said it is important to win games at home. It was Delhi's third loss out of the four matches that they have played at Kotla this season.

"It is important for us to win the home games. Especially on these wickets. We lost the toss as well and they outplayed us in all three departments. Credit to them," Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"A lot of concern as far as the death overs were concerned. It wasn't easy to bat in the second innings. The ball was stopping. It was difficult for the new batters. The last three overs were game-changing," he added.

Iyer felt they conceded 20 runs too many after being asked to bowl first on this deck.

"We would have chased. That is what we had on our minds. We have been chasing in all our away games as well. We gave away 20 runs more on this wicket," he said.

Asked if Delhi players have been training on similar wickets, Iyer said: "We practice at the nets and those wickets are also slow. When you come here, it is totally different."

Delhi Capitals will host Kings XI Punjab in their next match on Saturday (April 20).

(With PTI inputs)