like every record, every streak is meant to be broken. If it was Mumbai Indians who broke their four-game losing run in the previous game, this time it was Delhi Daredevils’ turn to end their nine-match losing streak at home.
In the battle of two struggling sides, Daredevils probably produced the best all-round game in past three seasons. When they batted, Daredevils posted 190 – a good score on any sort of pitch. When they bowled, wickets kept coming consistently. And they were simply superb in the field, taking seven catches and some of them were really breath-taking. Result: Daredevils beat Mumbai Indians convincingly by 37 runs.
The foundation was laid by JP Duminy and Shreyas Iyer when they shared a 154-run stand for the second wicket. After that DD bowlers created enough pressure to break MI’s batting. DD’s leg-spinners Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir need special mention for breaking MI’s backbone in the middle-order. Together they took five wickets – two for Mishra and three-in-one-over for Tahir.
After deciding to bowl first, Mumbai managed an early breakthrough through McClenaghan. The New Zealand left-armer, it seemed, wanted to test Daredevils opener Mayank Agarwal with short-pitch bowling.
First one was on the off-stump and Mayank dropped it in front of the covers for a single. The second one was on the body and probably quicker than the previous one. Mayank tried to pull but found himself cramped for space and spooned it to short mid-wicket.
Daredevils were one down for two runs after three balls. At that moment, a sense of déjà vu must have engulfed the hosts dug out. They were in a similar situation in the previous match too and their batting struggled to put a good total on the board.
The first ball that their captain JP Duminy faced only enhanced DD’s nervousness. The ball was sliding down the leg side, missed Duminy’s bat by a whisker and went to the wicketkeeper after brushing his thigh guard. A longish appeal made the scenario look ominous for DD.
It was only when the umpire said no the appeal died down and DD breathed easy. No one had guessed that that first over was the only time Mumbai Indians bowling would look threatening. Shreyas Iyer, along with his captain, built DD’s innings boundary by boundary. First came off lasith Malinga; Iyer flicked one from middle stump through mid-wicket.
Next over, Iyer launched McClenaghan for two boundaries – a four and a six. Duminy too got into the mode and sent Jasprit Bumrah for two consecutive sixes. Rohit introduced spin but Harbhajan Singh could only contain the Daredevils duo for a while from scoring rampantly.
What Mumbai needed was another breakthrough to end this budding partnership but it didn’t come till the 17th over. Iyer got out attempting atrocious shot off Malinga, Mumbai’s best bowler of the day. Duminy, however, kept pilling runs and remained unbeaten on 78.
To begin with, Mumbai started their chase quite steadily scoring 35 off the first four overs. As they say, one act of brilliance can change the course of the game. For Daredevils, Duminy brought that act when he held on to a difficult catch while paddling backwards.
Once the first wicket departed, Mumbai batsmen kept coming and going throughout the innings. The only exception was Rohit and Ambati Rayudu, who shared a 49-run stand for the fifth wicket and raised Mumbai’s hopes of making a match out of it.
But by then the asking rate had climbed to 15-runs per over. When Rohit top-edged to depart, it was all over for Mumbai. Ironically, it was one Mumbaikar who scripted the Mumbai’s downfall in the game – Shreyas Iyer, the Man of the Match for his 83-run knock.
Brief Scores
Delhi Daredevils: 190/4 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 83, JP Duminy 78; McClenaghan 2/38) beat Mumbai Indians: 153/9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 30, Ambati Rayudu 30; Imran Tahir 3/22) by 37 runs.