Mumbai: Dishing out another superlative all-round
performance, Mumbai Indians crushed Delhi Daredevils by 32 runs to virtually
qualify for the play-offs of the Indian Premier League here today. The win at the Wankhede Stadium meant
Mumbai are back at the top of the leader board with 16 points from 10 games and
have virtually booked a berth in the last four stage of the Twenty20
tournament.
Invited to bat first, Mumbai rode on a
blazing start provided by Aiden Blizzard, who blasted 37 in 23 balls, besides a
belligerent 56-ball 87-run third wicket partnership between Ambati Rayudu (59)
and Rohit Sharma (49) to post an imposing 178 for four.
Faced with the huge task of chasing the
stiff score, Delhi batsmen buckled under pressure and were tottering at seven
for four in the third over before they recovered through an 87-run partnership
between top-scorer James Hopes (56) and Y Venugopal Rao (37).
But it was not enough as Mumbai shot out
the visitors for 146 in 19.5 overs to suffer their seventh defeat in 11 games.
It was yet another clinically efficient
bowling display by Mumbai, who choked the Delhi dashers by packing off David
Warner, rival captain Virender Sehwag, Colin Ingram and Naman Ojha within the
first three overs.
After Harbhajan Singh dismissed Warner
off the fifth ball of the innings, Delhi slumped to seven for four.
The visitors lost Ingram to Lasith
Malinga's unplayable yorker before Munaf Patel sent off Ojha and Sehwag, to
virtually seal off Delhi's escape route.
The partial revival was led by Hopes,
dropped at long leg by Munaf Patel off Malinga when on 23. He faced 44 balls en
route to his fifty and struck eight Fours before he was run out in the 17th
over following a mix-up with Irfan Pathan.
His fifth wicket partner Rao hit four
fours and a six in his 27-ball knock before he was bowled by Dhawal Kulkarni in
the 14th over when the Daredevils were on 94.
Pathan made 23 off 18 balls and briefly
threatened to take his team past the stiff target before he was yorked by
Malinga in the 18th over when Delhi required 51 runs which virtually ended
their hopes.
Malinga, Munaf, Harbhajan and Kieron
Pollard grabbed two wickets apiece for Mumbai, who clash with Kings XI Punjab
on May 10 at Mohali while the Daredevils play against defending champions
Chennai Super Kings on May 12 at the latter's backyard.
Earlier, Blizzard blasted eight Fours
after singling out Morne Morkel for a harsh treatment by hitting the South
African pacer for five fours in an over.
Blizzard and Tendulkar (14) put on 50
runs in 29 balls for the opening stand and the fine beginning was later
sustained by Rayudu (59) and Sharma (49).
Rayudu cracked two sixes and three four
in his 39-ball essay while Sharma struck three huge sixes and two fours in his
32-ball blitz after Delhi captain Virender Sehwag won the toss and opted to
field in their must-win clash.
Mumbai scored 49 runs in the last five
overs and 102 in the last 10.
Blizzard simply tore apart Morkel after
playing three dot balls off the first three balls he faced from the lanky South
African fast bowler.
The 26-year-old Aussie, with limited
first class experience, showed why captain Tendulkar preferred him as his
opening partner by cover driving and pulling Morkel for successive fours in the
opening over.
And in the next over of the lanky pacer,
Blizzard simply took him apart by crashing five fours into the pickets, four of
them off successive balls.
He started the carnage with a straight
loft for four and after a dot ball, hit the bowler square behind the wicket on
either side for three boundaries besides slamming him into the covers for the
other four.
Tendulkar then picked up the cudgels by
driving Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar for a boundary each to raise the team's
50 in only 29 balls before the former struck the first major blow by dismissing
the champion batsman. Tendulkar was bowled by Pathan as he went for a wild
heave on the leg side.
Four runs later Blizzard was packed off
by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, one of the three changes effected by Delhi
in their playing eleven. The batsman mistimed a pull shot and gave an easy
catch to Sehwag at short mid-wicket.
It was then left to Rayudu and Sharma,
the two leading scorers for Mumbai after Tendulkar, to push the score along and
they did not disappoint.
Rayudu struck Hopes for two successive
fours to help Mumbai reach 76 for two at the halfway stage of their innings.
Rohit then struck a glorious straight
six off Morkel when he was brought back into the attack to help Mumbai reach
the 100 in 75 balls.
Rohit clobbered Hopes for two sixes over
the straight field while Rayudu pulled him for a four in the 15th over at the
end of which Mumbai were 129 for two.
To add to Delhi's woes, Sharma was
dropped at deep square leg by Warner off Pathan in the 16th over when the
batsman was on 44. However, he was caught in the next over off the expensive
Morkel at third man after adding five more runs.
Rayudu, who reached his 50 in 35 balls
by hitting Nadeem for a six and a four, struck Hopes for two fours in
successive balls in the 19th before he was dismissed, caught by Sehwag inside
the circle.
Morkel's four overs cost him a whopping
49 runs with a sole wicket to his name. Pathan was the most impressive with
figures of one for 23 while Nadeem picked up a wicket for 28 runs. Hopes too
was expensive with figures of one for 45. Source: PTI
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