Almost two months of non-stop cricket action came to its fruitful end on Tuesday night after Mumbai Indians tasted win for the unprecedented fifth time in the IPL, becoming the second team after Chennai Super Kings to defend their title.
Meeting the spirited Delhi Capitals in the big finals, Mumbai Indians defeated the first-timers by 5 wickets at the Dubai International Stadium.
Given 157 to win, MI got the required runs with 8 balls to spare thanks to a half-century from skipper Rohit Sharma as well as decent knocks from Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.
While Sharma played the captain's knock of 68 in 51 balls, helping his team wrap things up in 18.4 overs, it was Trent Boult's lethal bowling spell that put the dent in DC's batting order reducing them for 22 for three under four overs in the first innings.
Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting to you FIVE TIME IPL CHAMPIONS - #MumbaiIndians #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/Wz2ONkrh7E
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 10, 2020
As cricket fans gathered on social media reminiscing the entertainment that the IPL season brought to them in the last few weeks, many others lauded the organizers who made cricket possible despite the ensuing coronavirus pandemic that saw empty stands, ambient noise, and fist-bumps thrown around-- something the sport hadn't experienced ever before.
And now that the cricket carnival is done and dusted for 2020, fans really don't know what to do next. Watch highlights? Maybe.
Soon netizens expressed their dilemma through hilarious (and extremely sad) memes.
7:30 PM from tomorrow onwards. pic.twitter.com/CR3bpiGtl8
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) November 10, 2020
With IPL getting over, these bats will go back to the cricket kit! ☹️Dust accumulates on it and the signatures might fade. Milte hai agle IPL pic.twitter.com/vtxc18PuKH
— Vinesh Prabhu (@vlp1994) November 10, 2020
Dear God, Now that IPL is over ..? What do I tweet tomorrow..? Politics ..?International Cricket..?Foodie..?Flirting..?Travel diaries..?I don’t know anything other than THALA MS Dhoni dear Lord ☹️
— Mahiban (@mahiban4u) November 10, 2020
Now that IPL is over, it's time to return to our sad miserable lives and start preparing for 12 endsems, 10+ project submissions and dissertations
— Kunal Rawat (@kunalrw1) November 10, 2020
IPL is over . These 2 months were the best part of this year . Thanks for the entertainment and the memories . Back to the harsh reality that is called life now . pic.twitter.com/B7AQVMCzJE
— ` (@FourOverthrows) November 10, 2020
When you realize that ipl is over and you've to get back to your bored life😒 pic.twitter.com/xDvNoFXRV8
— वासंती🌼 (@vaishnavi_45) November 11, 2020
NO BUT IPL OVER AB WHAT ?? pic.twitter.com/IdKZnEAB9p
— 5TH WIN // check pinned (@shutupsneha) November 10, 2020
When you realise IPL is over Kalse no matches pic.twitter.com/MmLSFvl8oY
— S@niya (@tweet_sany_) November 10, 2020
Now that IPL is over #NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/i0gSLxy4tM
— Shiva (@see_woah) November 10, 2020
Earlier in the first innings, Skipper Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten fifty lifted DC to 156-7 after MI had them in all sorts of trouble in the early parts of the game.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, DC were tottering at 22-3 in the fourth over before the duo of Iyer (65 off 50 balls) and Rishabh Pant (56 off 38 balls) added 96 runs for the fourth wicket to steer their team to safety.