Lasith Malinga's lethal toe-crushers sent hosts Delhi Daredevils into a submissive state during an Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture here at the Feroz Shah Kotla yesterday
Hero of Mumbai Indians' win, Lasith Malinga says he is unfazed by reputation
Lasith Malinga's lethal toe-crushers sent hosts Delhi Daredevils into a submissive state during an Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture here at the Feroz Shah Kotla yesterday.
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| Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga celebrates a wicket against Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla yesterday. Pic/Imtiyaz Khan |
A capacity crowd gathered for the induction of the new-look Daredevils into Season Four of the T20 carnival in a tie against Mumbai Indians.
Defending a total of 95, Delhi's four-pronged seam-attack of Morne Morkel, Ashok Dinda, Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav bowled with aggression, but without too many catching positions. And they had to contend with a rock solid Sachin Tendulkar who was determined to open his team's account with a win.
In a rather bizarre move, Virender Sehwag removed all catching positions after the second over. Some sense prevailed as he brought back a slip off Morne Morkel in the 12th over, but by then, Tendulkar had found an able partner in Rohit Sharma and Mumbai coasted to an eight-wicket victory.
There was carry for seamers who hit the deck hard, but the minuscule target gave MI the advantage.
Earlier, Malinga picked up rhythm when he bowled left-hander David Warner with an in-swinging yorker from over the wicket, and then cleaned up 18-year-old promising batsman Unmukt Chand just two balls later.
Malinga later said he was least bothered by the reputation of a batsman. "I only think about bowling yorkers and slower deliveries," Man of the Match Malinga, who got four of his five wickets with yorkers, told reporters.
"I don't fear any batsmen in the world whether it is Virender Sehwag or anyone else. I only look to bowl to my own strength. I just bowl straight and try to mix variety with pace. I just back my ability and bowl as fast as I can," he added.
The back-to-back blows left the onus on skipper Sehwag, who looked in ominous touch when he smashed India teammate Harbhajan Singh for a massive six over long-off in just the fourth ball of the match, before being run out to a direct hit by counterpart, Tendulkar.
Sehwag, who gave Malinga a maiden over early in the innings, conceded that his inexperienced batting line-up was clueless against the Sri Lankan speedster. "This is the first time in almost 10 years that I have played a maiden over. That tells you how good a bowler Malinga is," Sehwag said.
"I knew the others in the side wouldn't be able to pick him (Malinga). That's why I tried to take lot of strike against him, but things didn't go according to plan.
"Also, I am the only player in the team who's played the last three IPLs for Delhi and there are 10 debutants with me. So, it will take time for us to gel and perform as a team."
Later, Naman Ojha (29) and Venugopal Rao (26) provided some resistance, and consolidated the innings with a 42-run partnership for the fifth-wicket.
However, Malinga returned to the attack and cleaned up the tail in quick time. Besides Roelof van der Merwe, none of the lower-order batsmen got off the mark.
ScoreboardDelhi DaredevilsDavid Warner b Malinga 1 Virender Sehwag run out 19 Unmukt Chand b Malinga 0 Aaron Finch c Rayudu b Harbhajan 8
Naman Ojha c Malinga b Murtaza 29
Venugopal Rao b Malinga 26 Irfan Pathan run out 0
van der Merwe not out 8 Morne Morkel b Malinga 0 Umesh Yadav st Jacobs b Harbhajan 0
Ashok Dinda c Franklin b Malinga 0
Extras: (W-4) 4.Total: (All out in 17.4 overs) 95
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-11, 3-27, 4-40, 5-82, 6-82, 7-88, 8-88, 9-90.
Bowling: Harbhajan 3-0-14-2 Malinga 3.4-1-13-5
Murtaza 4-0-21-1
Patel 3-0-20-0
Pollard 3-0-18-0
Franklin 1-0-9-0.
Mumbai Indians
Davy Jacobs b Morkel 1
Sachin Tendulkar not out 46 Ambati Rayudu run out (van der Merwe) 14
Rohit Sharma not out 27
Extras: (B-1, LB-3, W-7) 11
Total: (for 2 wickets in 16.5 overs) 99.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-31.
Bowling: Dinda 2-0-7-0
Morkel 4-0-29-1
Pathan 2.5-0-14-0
Yadav 2-0-16-0
van der Merwe 4-0-16-0
Finch 2-0-13-0.
Result: Mumbai Indians won by eight wickets.
Toss: Delhi Daredevils, who chose to bat
Points: Mumbai Indians 2, Delhi Daredevils 0
Player of the match: Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians)
Umpires: AM Saheba and RB Tiffin (Zimbabwe)
Match referee: S Venkataraghavan
