IPL 10, Match 25, Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils: 5 Tracking Points

Mumbai Indians were in their own backyard at the Wankhede Stadium up against Delhi Daredevils in the 25th match of the season. Traditionally, the surface at the venue has been batting-friendly but this one turned out to be the opposite and assisted the bowlers. MI found themselves in an unusual territory as they were asked to bat first after DD won the toss. They had achieved five straight wins thus far, all while chasing.

The Mumbai batsmen found it hard going against the DD pacers and lost a flurry of wickets. There wasn’t any partnership of substance and the innings never really flourished. Jos Buttler was the highest scorer with 26 and they were restricted to 142/8. Amit Mishra and Pat Cummins bagged two wickets apiece and halted the strong MI line-up.

DD in reply were off to the worst possible start as they lost 6 wickets for just 24 runs inside 7 overs. But Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada stuck to the crease and brought back the hopes of an improbable victory for their side. They had a partnership of 91 runs for the 7th wicket but ultimately MI emerged victorious by 14 runs and strengthened their pole position on the points table.

Here are the 5 major tracking points as MI won their 6th game in a row:

#1 Rohit’s trouble against the leggies didn’t end

There have been plenty of talks about Rohit Sharma’s form this season and he has managed only one score in double figures so far. He has been consistently batting in the middle-order and the experts suggest he should open the innings. Once more, he opted to go with Parthiv and Buttler for the openers’ slots and kept himself at number 4.

Rohit has been dismissed to Tahir, Narine, Rashid and Badree so far in the league out of which 3 are leg-spinners. It was the same old story for the skipper as he was facing a leg-spinner early in his innings. This time it was Amit Mishra who accounted for his wicket for 5 off 9 balls. The argument for him to open the innings gets even stronger as he won’t face too much spin at the start and even if he does, there won’t be much turn on offer with the new ball. Additionally, he needs to find form as soon as possible for the preparations of the ICC Champions Trophy later in June.

#2 Rabada’s impressive debut

The South African pacer was bagged by DD for a whopping INR 5 crores but has only been warming the benches. It was a surprising move not to include the world-class bowler in the XI. He finally made his debut in the IPL and immediately made an impact. His pace was in the 140s straight away and didn’t make it easy for the batsmen to score runs off him. He picked the wicket of Parthiv courtesy of a dead accurate yorker that shattered the stumps. At the end, he finished with impressive figures of 30/1.

With the bat too, he showed his mettle. Where other top order batsmen failed to stick to the crease, Rabada showed them how it’s done. He made 44 runs off 39 balls batting at number 7 and kept his team in the hunt. His knock was filled with 4 fours and a six and he proved why he should be in the XI at all times. Alongside Morris, he added 91 runs for the 7th wicket with his countryman scoring a brilliant 52 off 41 balls. But it proved to be too little too late from the duo.

#3 Mishra’s spirited effort

The leg-spinner was woefully out of touch a month back that had resulted in his exclusion from the Indian playing XI against Austraila. Even during the initial phase of IPL, everything didn’t go well for him. But in the recent games, he seems to have found the lost form and is bowling pretty well now.

On a pitch that was assisting the pacers, he turned up with figures of 18/2 in 4 overs. He first removed the big fish Rohit Sharma and then bagged a crucial wicket of Krunal Pandya. His leg-spinners were turning miles and he mixed that up beautifully with the googlies. He kept the big hitters like Kieron Pollard at bay and didn’t let them score big off him that hampered the progress of MI.

#4 McClenaghan did the early damage

MI didn’t have a huge score on the board and needed to pick up early wickets to ruffle the feathers of DD’s batting line-up. Mitchell McClenaghan put his hand up and did the job for his side as he removed the dangerous Sanju Samson in the second over. He got lucky with the second dismissal as Shreyas Iyer was strangled down the leg side and a faint edge carried to Parthiv Patel behind the stumps.

Next, it was Corey Anderson who was beaten with sheer pace as he was hit on the back leg and the umpire agreed to the appeal to send the batsman packing for a duck. At the end, he had figures of 24/3 and was the most successful bowler for his side.

#5 A fast bowler’s delight

The Wankhede wicket is known for producing high-scoring encounters but this one wasn’t one of the typical pitches. The batsmen found it hard scoring runs and the fast bowlers enjoyed a great time. From DD, Kagiso Rabada, who was playing his first game in IPL, extracted great help from the surface and managed to bag a wicket. Pat Cummins too bowled a superb spell and picked up 2 wickets for 20 runs in his 4 overs.

For MI, McClenaghan bagged 3 wickets and pegged DD back with quick wickets at the start. Mitchell Johnson who was in for the first time this season produced good bounce and remained economical. Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya too chipped in and grabbed 2 and 1 wickets respectively.