IPL 10, Match 25, MI v DD Review: McCleneghan, Bumrah continue dream run for MI

Mumbai Indians (MI) continued their dream run in Vivo IPL10 by defeating Delhi Daredevils by 14 runs in a close encounter at the Wankhede Stadium. The fortunes swung from one side to the other but in the end, the home team held their nerves and clinched a sensational victory. It was a brilliant bowling effort by MI to defend their moderate total of 142 runs.

Left-arm seamer Mitchell McCleneghan was exceptional up front which reduced the visitors to 24/6 in the 7^th over. Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Johnson kept on the good work and bowled some tight overs. Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris’ valiant effort went in vain as the home team won their 6^th match on a trot.

Expectedly Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan won the toss and asked the hosts to bat. It was Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel who began proceedings and looked to carry on from their exploits the other day. Buttler began with a six and a four of Chris Morris in the 2^nd over but the six came off the top edge and flown over the 3^rd man fielder.

Parthiv also flicked Zaheer Khan for a boundary in the 3^rd over and Buttler followed it up with another six of debutant Kagiso Rabada in the 4^th over. The young man came back strongly and removed Parthiv Patel in the final delivery of the over. It was a well-directed yorker which breached his defence and disturbed the timbers.

In form batsman, Nitish Rana walked out in the middle but before he could unleash the big shots, the southpaw was holed out in the deep mid-wicket as Pat Cummins bowled some exceptional short balls. He couldn’t middle it and eventually was holed out by Corey Anderson. Meanwhile, a brilliant piece of fielding by Sanju Samson brought an end to the innings of Jos Buttler who was going great guns.

The slide continued as captain Rohit Sharma also followed Buttler to the dressing room after failing to control a delivery from Amit Mishra. It was a well tossed up delivery and Rohit went for a slog sweep. He couldn’t time properly and was safely held by Pat Cummins backward square leg region. Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard looked to resurrect the innings after the loss of 4 early wickets.

After making a 16 ball 17 Krunal was dismissed by Mishra as the southpaw guided a short of length delivery straight to the hands of wicket-keeper Samson. Pollard was unable to hit the big shots as Mumbai failed to press on the accelerator at crucial junctures of the game. He struck a couple of fours of Zaheer in the 14^th over but it was a scratchy innings by the big man from West Indies.

Hard-hitting all-rounder Hardik Pandya began with a big six of Chris Morris and looked to take the score beyond the 150 mark. The big man also smashed the debutant Rabada for a six over mid-wicket but fell to the same bowler in the final delivery of the over. Mumbai eventually managed to score 142 in their allotted 20 overs which were not where a par score considering the Mumbai surface.

The home team knew wickets were the order of the day if they harboured any hopes of winning the match and it was exactly what transpired almost immediately as the DD innings began. Tare was brilliantly run out by Hardik Pandya and it was just what the doctor had ordered the home team. After smashing Johnson for a couple of boundaries Samson fell in the 2^nd over of another left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenghan.

It was a pretty soft dismissal as Rohit Sharma completed a simple catch at mid-off. The procession wasn’t finished yet as Shreyas Iyer got a faint edge towards the leg side. McCleneghan continued to bowl in the right areas as Corey Anderson also fell in the 5^th delivery of the same over. It was a nippy delivery which cramped him for room and struck adjacent to his pads.

It was on the higher side but as it struck the back pad the ball would have crashed onto the stumps. Teenager Rishabh Pant who looked brilliant during the tournament so far fell for a duck as Jasprit Bumrah bowled a terrific line to prize the youngster out. It was a short of length delivery which swung away just a bit to take the outside edge of Pant’s bat. Harbhajan Singh stationed in the slip cordon completed a straight forward catch.

Karun Nair too fell in quick succession as DD was reduced to 24/6 in the 7^th over. It was hara-kiri by the DD batsmen as it was not an unplayable pitch under any stress of imagination. All-rounder Chris Morris and debutant Kagiso Rabada stitched together the highest 8^th wicket partnership for DD and played some delightful shots in the process.

Rabada who is no mug with the bat struck 4 fours and a solitary six during his innings of 44. Chris Morris, on the other hand, kept the visitors in the game with some lusty blows and remained unbeaten on 52 of 41 deliveries. His efforts weren’t enough in the end as DD fell short by 14 runs.

Morris struck 5 fours and a big six during his half-century and it was till the penultimate over that Delhi was still in the game. With 30 required off the last 2 anything could have happened. But Bumrah bowled a sensational 19^th over where he conceded only 5 runs which totally shifted the tides in favour of the home team.

Hardik was entrusted with the final over as the exceptional all-rounder didn’t disappoint. He conceded 10 runs which eventually handed Mumbai a comfortable victory. Courtesy their victory, MI maintain their numero uno status in the points table.

Brief Scores

Mumbai Indians 142/8 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 28, Kieron Pollard 26, Amit Mishra 2/18, Pat Cummins 2/20)

Delhi Daredevils 128/7 in 20 overs (Chirs Morris 52, Kagiso Rabada 44, Mitchell McCleneghan 3/24, Jasprit Bumrah 2/21)

Mumbai Indians won by 14 runs

Check out – Full scorecard here

Check out – Full scorecard here