IPL 9, Match 47: MI v DD - 5 Talking Points

Krunal Pandya was the star of the show as the Mumbai Indians crushed a hapless Delhi Daredevils by a mammoth 80-run margin. Mumbai put up a rather complete performance as they stake their claim for a top four finish in the current edition of the Indians Premier League. Martin Guptill’s knock was yet another breath of fresh air with the Kiwi batsman making only his second appearance in the IPL and making it count.

1. Rohit Sharma and Guptill get MI off to a flier:

The Dr. YSR Stadium in Vizag may not exactly be home for the Mumbai Indians. However, Rohit Sharma and his men seem to be growing into their new home, especially with the way they played against the Delhi Daredevils bowlers on the night. Sharma got the innings off to a flier after smashing Shahbaz Nadeem into the ropes for a boundary and a six in the first over. Two more sixes would flow from the bat of Rohit as he did his best to lead from the front. He was joined by Martin Guptill, drafted into the side at the expense of his New Zealand teammate Tim Southee. Guptill once again displayed his clean ball striking prowess as he soon found the middle of the bat to score a healthy 42. He slammed 2 fours and three sixes in his compilation. The duo, had quite seemingly laid a solid foundation for the Indians to sink their teeth into.

2. Krunal Pandya sets Vizag ablaze:

It isn’t really rocket science to figure out that Krunal has become Rohit Sharma’s more preferred of the Pandya brothers. With his younger brother warming the benches, Krunal Pandya was promoted up the order to up the ante on a slow and dry batting wicket. However, for the southpaw, the conditions did not matter. He had one job, to live by the sword and more importantly, to put the Daredevils bowlers to the sword. Some massive hitting from the older of the Pandya brothers saw Vizag set ablaze. The century looked completely in sight until he was eventually bowled by Chris Morris. However, despite that, the damage had well and truly been done. He had clobbered, smashed, crashed, and pulled the Delhi bowlers to amass 86 off just 37 deliveries. His compilation included 7 boundaries and 6 sixes. Even the word marvelous was an understatement to his imploding innings.

3. Rayudu and Buttler add icing on the cake:

On the night against the Daredevils, Ambati Rayudu was given a completely different job. He was to conclude the MI innings, something that had been willfully setup by the likes of Krunal Panyda and Martin Guptill. Chris Morris’ twin strikes of Pollard and Pandya in the same over pegged back the Mumbai Indians just a tiny bit. That said, Jos Buttler made his way out to join Rayudu. The duo didn’t disappoint as they smashed 32 off the last two overs, ensuring that the cherry was well and truly on the cake.

4. Quinton de Kock wages lone battle:

Quinton de Kock, for the most part of the current edition of the IPL has been anchoring the innings. Given the number of inexperienced blokes in the side, the South African southpaw has been in some decent form of late. He once again set the ball rolling for the Daredevils with some wonderful hitting. Despite the loss of Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair in quick succession, the irresistible de Kock continued on his merry way. He was however, stopped in his tracks as after smashing his way to a valiant 40 before being dismissed by the wily Krunal Pandya. His wicket also triggered an unprecedented Daredevils collapse.

5. Delhi crumble at the hands of Bumrah and co.:

Jasprit Bumrah has been somewhat of a caged lion. However, on the night against the Daredevils, the Mumbai bowlers seemingly got it spot on. Unfortunately for the Daredevils, despite having won the toss, conceded the game by a rather huge margin. Apart from Quinton de Kock, only Rishabh Pant and Chris Morris managed to get into the double figures as they smashed 23 and 20 respectively. They were eventually bowled out for 126 in the final over of the innings with their net run rate taking a massive hit.

How did the MI v DD match pan out? – IPL 9 Match 47 Review: Mumbai Indians blow away Delhi Daredevils