Mumbai, May 22 (IANS) Delhi Capitals seamer Mukesh Kumar has been slapped with 10 per cent of his match and fees and one demerit point for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday.

“Mukesh Kumar admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.2 (Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a Match) and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding,” the IPL statement read.

This season, Mukesh has featured in 11 of DC’s 13 fixtures so far, taking 11 wickets at an average of 32.63 and economy of 10.11.

Mukesh had a tough outing with the ball on Wednesday, giving away five boundaries and three sixes in his four-over spell, finishing with figures of 2 for 48. His most expensive over came in the 19th, where he leaked 27 runs — 6, 1, 4, 6, 6, 4 — as Suryakumar Yadav and Naman Dhir powered MI to a formidable total of 180 in the first innings.

He was later substituted by impact player KL Rahul during DC’s chase, but the visitors crumbled to 121 all out. Only uncapped batters Sameer Rizvi (39) and Vipraj Nigam (20) managed to score more than 20.

With just one slot remaining in the qualifiers, MI propelled themselves to grab the final seat by outclassing DC by 59 runs in front of their home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium.

With this win, Mumbai Indians have secured the final playoff spot in the TATA IPL 2025, joining Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Punjab Kings in the knockout stage, while DC missed out on a knockout spot after a loss.

–IANS

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