IPL 2018: Match 9, MI vs DD, Review - Jason Roy hands Mumbai their third consecutive loss

Mumbai once again lost in the last over as Delhi Daredevils got off the mark in the tournament.

Published - 14 Apr 2018, 19:40 IST | Updated - 14 Apr 2018, 19:40 IST

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Delhi Daredevils (DD) have managed to open their account in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a resounding win over Mumbai Indians (MI) by 6 wickets. The jam-packed Wankhede crowd was treated with an absolute humdinger as the visiting side chased down the total of 195 runs courtesy Jason Roy. He played a blinder of a knock after coming out to open the innings. However, the defending champions MI were left wondering of their chances as they were lacklustre in the field and made it a hat-trick of losses in this season.

The visitors won the toss and invited MI to bat first with an expectation that the conditions will get better to bat in the evening. They included Jason Roy and Daniel Christian in the playing XI at the expense of Colin Munro and Chris Morris while the home side handed an IPL debut to Akila Dananjaya as Hardik Pandya was back fit. Ben Cutting and Pradeep Sangwan made way for the duo.

Yadav’s promotion pays off

The hosts surprised everyone by promoting Suryakumar Yadav to open alongside Evin Lewis as the move paid off magnificently with the former outscoring his partner. Both of them just blazed away in the powerplay overs taking the attack to the DD bowlers nonchalantly. Yadav, in particular, brought finesse with him at the top of the order as Lewis was brutal in his assault. Both added 102 runs in less than 10 overs as Rahul Tewatia struck twice in two overs to send back both of them.

However, Ishan Kishan then came to the middle and looked absolutely special on the day. Much like the openers, he also played his shots and kept the run-rate going while his skipper Rohit Sharma struggled to middle the ball. He took on the most successful bowler of the day Tewatia. The best of the lot was the maximum which was the reverse-sweep as the bowler blessed him with a full toss and it went into the stands. Though he followed it with a more conventional shot stepping out to a pitched up delivery to send it over deep mid-wicket.

DD comeback at the death

It felt like Mumbai will cross 220-run mark while he was there but that was not to be. Once he was dismissed, Daredevils came back well in the death overs as they kept picking wickets in last 5 overs. The likes of Mohammed Shami, Daniel Christian and Trent Boult combined together and gave only 36 runs in that period and churned out 5 scalps. MI eventually finished on 194 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.

Roy blazes away

Delhi Daredevils had the momentum with them going into the chase and Jason Roy just carried it forward with some pleasant hitting. He launched an assault on Hardik Pandya even as his partner Gautam Gambhir kept playing second fiddle to him. He hit some fierce sixes in the powerplay one of which went into the second tier off Pandya as he transferred his weight on the back foot to a short delivery and dismissed it over square leg with a pull shot. Meanwhile, the pressure got to Gambhir as he was sent back by Mustafizur Rahman.

Pant joins the party

However, the wicket proved to be a blessing in disguise for the visitors as Rishabh Pant went bonkers from the word go. Surprisingly, Roy stayed back in the middle overs and let the youngster make the statement. The left-hander was in the mood as some of his shots were absolutely pleasing to the eyes. His two sixes off Dananjaya in the 10th over of the innings when he shimmied down the track to whack it over long on showed his control on his game. Those shots also changed the momentum of the game.

But the rush of blood got to him as Pant played an airy shot to a flighted delivery from Krunal Pandya as Kieron Pollard made his presence felt finally with an exceptional catch. The brilliance in the field didn’t stop here as Hardik Pandya pulled off an absolute stunner to send back Glenn Maxwell as the match got even more interesting.

Roy and Iyer end the proceedings

The quick wickets of Pant and Maxwell had brought the home side back into the game. But Shreyas Iyer supported Roy well who had gone quiet after the powerplay only to go berserk in the death overs. He dented the confidence of MI by taking on their best bowler Jasprit Bumrah by hitting fierce pull shots to the short balls. Even Iyer played some breathtaking shots but some wonderful variations from Bumrah brought the match down to 11 runs off the last over.

Mustafizur was entrusted to bowl the last over but Roy had just put on a show in Mumbai as he avoided any drama by smashing 10 off first two deliveries. But that wasn’t to be as Mustafiz brought back his ‘A’ game to the fore and bowled 3 dot balls sensationally. But once again MI lost the game as Roy managed to hit it over the infield to hand the home side their third consecutive loss.