Published: Apr 23, 2015, 11:30 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 24, 2015, 12:31 AM (IST)
Delhi Daredevils (DD) beat the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 37 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 contest at the Feroz Shah Kotla. It was a team performance from DD as they first put up 190 on the board and then bowled well to strangle MI in their run-chase.
Coming into this game unchanged from their victory against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), MI started their run-chase of 191 well. Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons gave them a decent start, but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They had a few cameos on show, but none good enough to take them through.
They were still in the game when Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma put up 49 runs for the fifth wicket. But, their collapse between the 16th and the 17th over exposed the frailties in their batting line-up. From 131 for four, they collapsed to 135 for eight inside five deliveries. Imran Tahir took three wickets in four deliveries to shut out any hopes of victory for MI.
DD batted first and were led by an amazing 154-run stand between JP Duminy and Shreyas Iyer. The experienced skipper and the youngster combined to put DD on course to a big total. It was a well-paced partnership as they first helped DD recover after the early fall of Mayank Agarwal. In the first ten overs, DD had scored only 65 runs. That is when things began to turn.
In the next seven overs, DD scored 91 runs, with both Iyer and Duminy smashing it around. Iyer in particular was quite impressive during his innings of 83. He made room, played shots on the rise and was unafraid to go over the top. Iyer helped DD pick up pace with some dazzling strokes, which eclipsed Duminy, who was also batting well at the other end. Iyer was ultimately castled by Lasith Malinga, who shattered his stumps in the 17th over.
MI did reasonable well to pull things back in the end, but Angelo Mathews’ small cameo and Duminy’s presence ensured they went on to get 190. MI’s bowlers had a tough day, especially those who bowled after the tenth over, when Iyer and Duminy shifted gears.
With this victory, DD have recorded their third win of the season. MI only have the solitary victory from their six games. MI were in a similar situation last season and they would need more than inspiration to bounce back this year.
Brief scores:
Delhi Daredevils 190 for 4 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 83, JP Duminy 78*; Mitchell McClenaghan 2 for 38) beat Mumbai Indians. (Rohit Sharma 30, Ambati Rayudu 30; Imran Tahir 3 for 22) by 37 runs.
(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_45)
