IPL 2018: Match 9, MI vs DD- Rating of the Match

Mumbai Indians, in their previous games, managed to somehow snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The losses were mentally taxing for Rohit Sharma’s men as the matches turned upside down, right when it was perceived that Mumbai would emerge victorious in a canter. The most heartening fact in today’s encounter against Delhi Daredevils was that they didn’t allow the slumps to haunt them.

Changes were inevitable following how things panned out. There were chinks in their armour which needed immediate resurrection. They needed a masterstroke as a moment of inspiration and it came in the form of Suryakumar Yadav’s promotion or rather ‘Rohit Sharma’s demotion’. The latter didn’t make much of an impact, the former definitely did.

Also, the stark difference was 102 runs compared to 7 runs and 11 runs- The opening partnerships Mumbai Indians have had in the league

Moreover, the onslaught had an immaculate blend of method and madness, which shaped into the second-century partnership in the league and the first as an opening stand. Yadav knows the dimensions and the nuances of the ground on the back of his palm having plied his trade in the stadium ever since his childhood and it was palpable from the way he constructed his knock.

Back to ‘consistency’ for Mumbai  

102/0 after 8 overs (13.37 rpo), 92/7 in the next 11 overs (8.36 rpo)

A score which threatened to effortlessly breach the 200 run mark, eventually ended up way below 200. Evin Lewis, undeniably, didn’t learn from his mistake against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and gifted his wicket away just when the team needed him to carry on. All of a sudden, two brand new batsmen found themselves in the middle and were required to rebuild the innings.

Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma carved a partnership, however, the glaring aspect in the stand was that Rohit went at a strike rate of 118.18 while Kishan raced away at 204.76. To be more precise, barring the top three, the remaining batsmen scored 39 runs off 37 balls at a strike rate of 105.40, which is no less than abysmal on a wicket which had runs, plenty of runs, written all over it.

An indifferent Markande and the hat-trick for Mumbai

A few hours ago, Mayank Markande was showered with appreciations for his meteoric surge with insignificant experience in the domestic circuit. Post the game, he got the ‘bitter’ taste of being neutralized by some brutal whacks. In the first two games, he snapped seven wickets for 46 runs at an economy of less than six. Today, he conceded almost those many runs with no wickets to show.

Markende’s implosion also meant that the sting was taken out of the Mumbai attack. Meanwhile, Delhi Daredevils also altered their opening stand and employed a bold move of benching Colin Munro for Englishman Jason Roy. Unlike, Lewis, Roy didn’t throw his wicket away, rather played till the very end and guided his team to glory.

The likes of Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell and Shreyas Iyer player around the nucleus of Roy. Meanwhile, the final-over pandemonium sees no limit for Mumbai. The entertainment quotient didn’t die down one bit and the audience, undoubtedly, got their money’s worth. Meanwhile, the Mumbai contingent in the crowd returned empty-handed for the second time in the first week.

Rating of the Match- 4.5