The Mumbai Indians had an off day with the bat in IPL 2017, but that was nothing compared to the nightmare outing that the Delhi Daredevils suffered at the Wankhede on Saturday.
Chasing a should-get-there-with-plenty-to-spare score of 143, after the Mumbai Indians, for the first time this season, flopped with the bat, the Delhi Daredevils and their young Indian brigade caved under the pressure to hand MI a sensational victory, their sixth consecutive in the Indian Premier League.
After the DD bowlers did their jobs really well to restrict this scary Mumbai Indians batting lineup to just 142/8, all the top order batsmen needed to do was make sure they don't trigger panic in the dressing room.
Well, Aditya Tare (0, 1b) didn't get that memo and the Mumbaikar went and the gave his wicket away by going for a quick single that was never there, with Hardik Pandya putting in a wonderful direct hit.
Next over, Sanju Samson (9, 6b, 2x4) was also walking back after driving one off Mitchell McClenaghan straight to the MI skipper Rohit Sharma at mid-off.
The wickets just kept tumbling and tumbling as Shreyas Iyer (6, 7b, 1x4) strangled one down the legside off McClenaghan, before the New Zealander had his third wicket when he trapped compatriot Corey Anderson (0, 3b) in front of the wicket.
Karun Nair (5, 15b) needed to play a match-winning innings, but it was not to be as he chopped one on off Hardik Pandya, before Jasprit Bumrah go into the act by inducing an outside edge off Rishabh Pant (0, 3b).
DD were now 24/6 in the seventh over with that comfortable win looking like a distant dream. Indeed, any sort of win was going to depend on Chris Morris playing a blitzkrieg, but the South African struggled in the middle after picking up a hamstring problem while going for a quick single.
Morris and Kagiso Rabada, making his IPL debut, though, hung around to make sure DD would go past the lowest ever total of 58, scored by the Rajasthan Royals in 2009, in the IPL, and they kept at it, taking the game as deep as they could.
Slowly but surely, the Mumbai Indians worry lines could be seen again, as Morris and Rabada (44, 39b, 4x4, 1x6) continued on in the middle, bringing it down to 52 needed from 30 balls.
However, the MI death bowlers – McClenaghan and Bumrah – turned it on again, denying Rabada and Morris, who put on 91 runs together, the big hits they needed, as DD crashed to their third consecutive defeat.
The Mumbai Indians innings was brilliant when compared to DD's, although in reality it was a bit of a train-wreck. Twenties from Jos Buttler (28, 18b, 3x4, 2x6), Kieron Pollard (26, 29b, 4x4) and Hardik (24, 23b, 2x6) took them to what proved to be a match-winning score.
The Delhi Daredevils, pace-heavy bowling – there was Zaheer Khan, Morris, Pat Cummins and Rabada in the side – was outstanding, but it was the leg-spinner Amit Mishra who was the pick of the bowlers, after finishing with figures of two for 18 from his four overs.
Cummins also helped himself to a couple of wickets, with the Mumbai Indians losing their way once Buttler was run out by Samson, as the likes of Nitish Rana and Krunal Pandya, for once, failed to make an impression with the bat.
They did pick the right day, though, to fail with the bat as the DD batsmen self-imploded.
Watch the MI vs DD IPL 2017 match highlights HERE and HERE
Scores:
Toss: Delhi Daredevils won toss and chose to bowl.
Mumbai Indians: 142/8 in 20 overs.
Delhi Daredevils: 128/7 in 20 overs.
Result: Mumbai Indians won by 14 runs.
Bowling: Delhi Daredevils: Kagiso Rabada 4-0-30-1; Chris Morris 4-0-33-0; Zaheer Khan 4-0-36-0; Amit Mishra 4-1-18-2; Pat Cummins 4-0-20-2.
Mumbai Indians: Mitchell Johnson 4-1-23-0; Mitchell McClenaghan 4-0-24-3; Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-21-2; Hardik Pandya 3-0-23-1; Harbhajan Singh 4-0-26-0; Krunal Pandya 1-0-8-0.
Fall of wickets: Mumbai Indians: 37/1, Parthiv Patel (4 overs); 47/2, Jos Buttler (5.1 overs); 56/3, Nitish Rana (7.2 overs); 60/4, Rohit Sharma (8.1 overs); 84/5, Krunal Pandya (12.4 overs); 120/6, Kieron Pollard (17.1 overs); 132/7, Harbhajan Singh (19 overs); 135/8, Hardik Pandya (19.3 overs).
Delhi Daredevils: 1/1, Aditya Tare (0.4 overs); 10/2, Sanju Samson (1.2 overs); 20/3, Shreyas Iyer (3.3 overs); 21/4, Corey Anderson (4 overs); 21/5, Rishabh Pant (5.3 overs); 24/6, Karun Nair (6.3 overs); 115/7, Kagiso Rabada (18.4 overs).
