Daredevils Rout Defending Champions by Six Wickets
In what turned out to be yet another disappointing outing for the Mumbai Indians, the Delhi Daredevils routed them by a six-wicket margin with seven balls to spare. After scoring a modest 125 for six in their allotted 20 overs, MI were unable to stop the DD batsmen from achieving the target with relative ease.
Earlier, MI won the toss and chose to bat first in Sharjah. Skipper Rohit Sharma (4), who opened the innings today, however, failed to make most of that decision; he was run-out by Mohammed Shami in the second over. Even his opening partner, Aditya Tare (8), departed early off the bowling of Wayne Parnell. With the scorecard reading 17 for two in 3.2 overs, Ambati Rayudu joined Corey Anderson in the middle. Tasked with the responsibility of rebuilding, the third-wicket pair took MI’s score to 37 at the end of the powerplay.
However, the situation did not improve for the Indians as they lost Anderson (13) off the bowling of Jaydev Unadkat soon after that. Then in the ninth over, Shahbaz Nadeem got rid of Rayudu (14), leaving MI on 46 for four. And at the half-way stage, MI could only manage 49 runs. Despite having Michael Hussey and Kieron Pollard at the crease, the run-rate dipped under five. And then to make matters worse for MI, Unadkat cleaned up Hussey (10), whose 18-ball stay in the middle was atypical of the stroke-making Mr. Cricket the fans have come to admire over the years.
After his departure, CM Gautam joined Pollard (33*) and tried to accelerate the scoring rate. Thanks largely to the middle-order batter, MI brought up their 100 in the 18th over of the innings. But Gautam’s (22) cameo ended with an unfortunate run-out in the next over. Pollard then struck a four and a six to take MI to 113 for six after 19 overs. Then, Harbhajan Singh (10*) played a vital role in taking his team’s score to 124, before he retired hurt with one ball to go in the innings. MI then finished at 125 for six in their 20 overs.
For DD, Unadkat picked up two wickets, while Nadeem and Parnell accounted for a scalp each.
In response to MI’s modest total, Quinton de Kock (16) and Murali Vijay started the Daredevils innings in a steady manner. The pair added 34 in just under seven overs, before de Kock got out off the bowling of Corey Anderson. JP Duminy then came out to bat, and along with Vijay, took DD to 55 for one at the half-way stage.
The pair then increased the scoring rate, and it appeared as though they had the MI bowlers’ number. That is when Rohit Sharma took matters in his own hands and decided to roll his arm over. And much to the delight of his teammates, the MI captain struck off his second delivery; he cleaned up Vijay (40) to leave DD on 79 for two in 12.2 overs. However, DD skipper Kevin Pietersen, who was the next man in, ensured his team reached the three-figure mark by the 15th over.
But off the first ball of the very next over, Lasith Malinga got rid of Duminy (19). And three deliveries later, the Sri Lankan slinger dismissed Dinesh Karthik (2). However, there were no more dents in the DD line-up as Pietersen (26*) and Kedar Jadhav (14*) took their team over the line with six wickets in hand and seven balls to spare.
For MI, Malinga was the pick of the bowlers and he ended up with figures of 4-0-17-2.
