Mumbai Indians continued their recent good form, defeating Delhi Daredevils by five wickets and with three balls to spare – though the margin of their victory was a good deal more comfortable than the score suggests. They jump from seventh to fourth in the table and look a good bet to reach the play-offs, while Delhi – who drop to sixth – must rely on the results of other teams.
After winning the toss, Delhi elected to bat – their captain, JP Duminy, cited a pitch not expected to deteriorate, though perhaps Sunday’s game against the Rajasthan Royals was also influential, the Daredevils batted out of it after opting to field. And immediately, it looked an iffy call, Lasith Malinga sending down a nondescript outswinger that the talented Mayank Agarwal followed, edging behind for a diamond duck.
This brought Duminy to the wicket, and he quickly reminded the Mumbai attack of his fine form, taking just 19 balls to reach 28, only to then check a drive and gift Jagadeesha Suchith a tame return catch. This placed Delhi in something of a bind, as by this time Shreyas Iyer had also departed, impetuously swinging the bat at Harbhajan Singh’s first delivery and miscuing to third-man. Nor was Harbhajan finished there, also removing the dangerous Kedar Jadhav in a superb spell that produced 16 dot balls and ceded just 11 runs in four overs.
With the score standing at 72-4 after 11.2 overs, it was essential for Delhi that Yuvraj Singh, slowly finding his way back into form, delivered. And, after losing Angelo Mathews – his most likely accomplice – for 12, he waded in, hitting Malinga for three straight fours and Mitchell McClenaghan for two straight sixes. But, on 57, he crunched a cut towards backward-point, only for Lendl Simmons to flick himself right and hold an incredible catch in the fingertips of his right hand.
Delhi’s final total of 152-6 did not appear especially competitive, but then Zaheer Khan trapped Simmons with his second ball and Nathan Coulter-Nile removed Hardik Pandya – promoted above Rohit Sharma – in the following over. Shortly afterwards, the players left the field to escape unseasonal lightning, and when Parthiv Patel and Harbhajan were dismissed in the short passage of play that preceded the inevitable rain break, Mumbai were struggling, and well behind according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.
However, once the players returned, and with no further interruption expected, Sharma and Ambati Rayudu managed the game with nous and composure. Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir, Delhi’s cunning leggies, were milked for ones and twos, with occasional bad balls dispatched to and over the boundary. So, when Sharma was bowled for 46 from 37 deliveries with the score at 100, the platform was set for Kieron Pollard, whose three effortless sixes, supported by Rayudu’s considered hitting, kept Mumbai in control of the chase.
