IPL 9, Match 17 Review: Delhi Daredevils register 3rd win on the trot

The defending champions Mumbai Indians locked horns with the young Delhi Daredevils side. While Mumbai came into the match looking slightly unsettled and hoping to achieve consistency, Delhi aimed to win three on a trot, something they hadn’t done for a long time now. It was a home game for the DD and certainly an advantage for the Zaheer Khan led side.

A calm head Sanju Samson compiled a good half century and was rightly accompanied by JP Duminy’s controlled aggression that saw Daredevils post a decent total of 164 on the board. Mumbai in reply were led from the front by skipper Rohit Sharma. Some clean hitting by Krunal Pandya gave the much needed acceleration to the innings. Quick wickets saw Mumbai’s chase being dealt setbacks at regular intervals and they failed to get over the line. Mumbai Indians could manage only 154/7 in their 20 overs, giving Delhi Daredevils their 3rd win on the trot.

Having won the toss, the Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma elected to bowl first. The decision wasn’t a surprise as the trend of the season has been chasing the targets. Quinton de Kock, the centurion of the last game for Delhi Daredevils, looked threatening from the onset as he hit two boundaries early in the innings. Mitchell McClenaghan bowled well to get rid of him in the second over for just 9. Shreyas Iyer was then joined by Sanju Samson at the crease.

Both the batsmen had a quite season so far and both looked calculative with their approach. Shreyas’s stay was cut short by Hardik Pandya on 19 off 20 balls when he was caught by Ambati Rayudu. By the end of 7th over, Delhi were placed at 48/2. In the very next over, Harbhajan Singh got the wicket of Karun Nair (5) and the middle-order seemed to collapse. It came down to the experienced campaigner JP Duminy to join hands with Samson, who was watching wickets fall from the other end.

The duo put on 71 runs off 51 balls for the 4^th wicket to take the score well past 120 mark. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson brought up his half century and had a sigh of relief. He was dismissed in the 17th over by McClenaghan on 60. Samson’s 60 came off 48 balls and boasted of 4 boundaries and 2 sixes. Duminy (49* off 21) and Negi (10* off 10) provided the late flourish to the innings to take the score to 164/4 by the end of 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians had a horrid start to their run chase as a miscommunication saw Parthiv Patel getting run out on 1 in the 2nd over of the match. The two mainstay of the Mumbai Indians batting, Rohit Sharma, and Ambati Rayudu, then settled things with steady second wicket stand that lasted for 41 balls and yielded 43 runs. Ambati Rayudu was smartly cleaned up by Amit Mishra for a hard fought 23-ball 25.

Krunal Pandya walked in to the middle and cleared his intentions straight away with some big shots. Pandya raced to the 30s and looked to be in the attacking mode right from the word go. He was unlucky to be run out on 36 by Delhi skipper Zaheer Khan. Pandya took just 17 balls for his 36 and hit two maximums to go with 4 boundaries. Jos Buttler failed yet again and was trapped by Amit Mishra with a googly.

Kieron Pollard, who played the finisher’s role in the previous match, came in to join skipper Rohit, who brought up his half-century in the meantime. Much to the disappointment of the Mumbai fans, Pollard departed after hitting just one six. Hardik Pandya came to the crease. With Mumbai needing 21 to win off the last over, the match was in favour of Delhi. Rohit Sharma hit a six off Chris Morris in the final over to keep the hopes alive. However, a mid-pitch collision saw Rohit getting dismissed on 65 off 48 balls with 7 fours and a six. Eventually, 164 proved to be the winning score for Delhi as Mumbai fell short by 10 runs.

Brief Scores:

DD – 164/4 (Sanju Samson 60, JP Duminy 49*; M McClenaghan 2/30)

MI – 154/7 (Rohit Sharma 65; Amit Mishra 2/24)

Man of the Match: Sanju Samson