Skipper Rohit Sharma and middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu's heroics saw Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils by five wickets to score their fourth consecutive win in IPL 8
Mumbai Indians rose to the fourth spot in the Indian Premier League points table beating delh iDaredevils by five wickets to register their fourth successive victory at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday night.
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Two rain breaks seemed to have affected Mumbai Indians’ momentum for a brief period, but an unbeaten 53-run partnership between Ambati Rayudu (49) and Kieron Pollard (26) helped Mumbai Indians chase down Delhi Daredevils’ 152-6 with three balls to spare.
Delhi Daredevils’ Yuvraj Singh slams one en route his 44-ball 57 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. PIC/PTI
Like DD, MI lost a wicket off the first legitimate ball of their innings with Zaheer Khan getting opener Lendl Simmons’ scalp. DD pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile never allowed the MI top-order to settle down as the hosts were reduced to 40-4 inside the Powerplay with Hardik Pandya (5), Parthiv Patel (13) and Harbhajan Singh (5) all back in the dugout.
DD bowlers, especially Angelo Mathews and leggie Amit Mishra, didn’t give too many chances to the MI duo to free their arms.
With the asking rate soaring, Rohit’s (46) resistance was finally broken by Mishra’s googly, leaving his fiancée Ritika Sajdeh disappointed in the stands.
Pollard was greeted with a huge roar and the big-hitting West Indian did not disappoint, plundering a six over long-on off Mishra off the second ball he faced. Pollard and Rayudu hit some decisive blows to bring the equation down to 22 off 12 balls. With Pollard and Rayudu taking 14 off the penultimate over, the game was as good as over for Delhi.
Earlier, Yuvraj Singh indicated there was something special in store on Tuesday when the southpaw stood firmly and pulled one fiercely off Mumbai Indians pacer Lasith Malinga for his first boundary.
The next ball too was banged in short by MI, and received the same treatment. The timing however, wasn’t perfect.
Although Yuvraj’s 44-ball 57 included seven boundaries and a couple of sixes, he played with utmost maturity and took calculated risks to help Delhi Daredevils post 152-6 in 20 overs.
Yuvraj walked in with the scoreboard reading 50-3 in 6.4 overs after the Daredevils lost skipper JP Duminy caught and bowled left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith for 28.
Yuvraj cautiously saw off Harbhajan Singh, who was the pick of the MI bowlers and finished with 4-1-11-2. Yuvraj scored just five runs off Harbhajan’s 12 deliveries.
But the senior batsman did not hold back against Malinga’s loose deliveries. The three consecutive fours off Malinga’s third over helped Delhi pick the momentum that was thwarted each time they lost a wicket.
The consecutive sixes coming of flicks off Mitchell McClenaghan’s last over, which also brought Yuvraj’s half-century (his second of the IPL-8) then rekindled the memories of the 2011 World Cup final at the same venue, where the lefthander was adjudged Player of the Tournament. However, Yuvraj, who was given not out by the third umpire after the ball bumped before carrying to wicketkeeper Patel, fell to the very next delivery, courtesy a stunning one-handed catch by Lendl Simmons.
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