Chasing 178 for victory, Lalit (48) and Axar (38) lifted Delhi from a precarious 104-6 with an unbeaten stand of 75 to win with 10 balls to spare at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.
Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 81 off 48 balls had steered Mumbai to 177-5 after being put in to bat first in the opening match of the season for the two teams.
Lalit, an uncapped all-rounder who hails from Delhi, started slowly but took apart the Mumbai bowling in the final few overs.
Axar, a left-arm spinner who bats left-handed and has played six Tests and 15 T20Is for India, combined with Lalit and completed the win with a boundary off fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Delhi’s New Zealand import Tim Seifert, who hit 21 off 14 balls, said: “Everything is going good, and it’s obviously a great way to start, for me in a new franchise and for the team, an awesome way to start the tournament.”
Earlier the left-handed Kishan lived up to the $2 million auction price that Mumbai paid to get the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter back in their team.
He put on an opening stand with skipper Rohit Sharma, who made 41, and steered the five-time champions to what seemed a good total.
The 23-year-old smashed 11 fours and two sixes in his blitz.
Delhi spinner Kuldeep Yadav got the key wickets of Rohit and Kieron Pollard – who made three before Seifert pulled off a stunning catch at mid-wicket – to return figures of 3-18.
