IPL 2018: 3 Memorable clashes between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils at the Wankhede Stadium
After two heartbreaking losses in their first two games, Mumbai Indians will now be playing against Delhi Daredevils at home on Saturday afternoon at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai Indians will be desperate to win this crucial encounter, so will be the Delhi Daredevils who have lost their first two games in this season.
The game will begin at 4 PM in the afternoon and promises to be an exciting one as both the teams will look to register their first win of the season.
The pitch at Wankhede is generally considered to be a batting-friendly wicket with some assistance to the slower bowlers.
When it comes to head to head department, Mumbai and Delhi have clashed against each other on 20 occasions in which Mumbai have won 11 games, while Delhi managed to win nine games.
However, at Wankhede, Mumbai has a stupendous record winning five out of the six games played against Delhi at this venue.
Let us look at three memorable clashes between both the teams at Wankhede Stadium.
#3 Ambati Rayudu and the bowler's set up an easy win for Mumbai - 2011
This was the 49th game of the DLF Premier League 2011. Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field first on a batting strip at Wankhede.
Aussie left-hander Aiden Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar got the team off to a good start with no wickets down and 50 on the board.
However, the master blaster was dismissed by Irfan Pathan in the sixth over for 14 and in the very next over the Blizzard handed over a catch to Virender Sehwag of the bowling of Shahbaz Nadeem.
Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu who were new to the crease stitched together a good partnership.
They milked the Delhi Daredevils bowlers with ease. Both the batsmen cut-loose after the halfway mark and took the attack to the opposition.
Sharma, in particular, was the aggressor as he smashed two sixes of James Hopes in the 15th over.
Unfortunately, he got out for 49 in the 17th over caught at the third man of the bowling of Morne Morkel.
Rayudu continued his good touch and brought up his half-century in style smashing a six and a four of the bowling of Shahbaz Nadeem in the 18th over.
He struck further two boundaries in the 19th over before being dismissed for a well made 59. His knock comprised of seven boundaries and two hits over the fence.
Mumbai reached a formidable total of 178/4 in their allotted 20 overs thanks to the partnership between Sharma and Rayudu. The pair added 87 runs in 56 deliveries for the third wicket.
Chasing a solid total of 179 in a must-win encounter, Delhi had a horrible start to their innings.
They lost David Warner in the very first over who was trapped in front of the bowling of Harbhajan Singh.
The South African left-hander Colin Ingram was the next to go as he was clean bowled to a peach of a delivery from Lasith Malinga in the second over.
With a herculean task ahead Sehwag, played a rash shot as he got out playing a hook of the bowling of Munaf Patel on the first ball of the third over.
Wicket-keeper Naman Ojha was dismissed on the last ball of the third over as he nicked on to the wicket-keeper. Delhi Daredevils were soon reduced to 7-4 in three overs.
With a mountain to climb, Venugopal Rao and Hopes resurrected the innings as the pair added 87 runs for the fifth wicket in 65 deliveries before Rao was bowled off the bowling of Dhawal Kulkarni.
Hopes and Irfan Pathan kept the hopes alive until the Australian batsman was run out for a well made 55.
This wicket closed the doors for Delhi Daredevils of a win as they couldn’t cope up with the climbing required run-rate and they were finally dismissed for 146 with two balls to spare.
All the Mumbai Indians bowlers chipped in with the wickets. Malinga was the pick among the lot as he picked up two wickets giving away only 18 runs in 3.2 overs.
But for his brilliant effort with the bat, Rayudu was awarded the Man of the Match.
This win meant Mumbai Indians qualified for the playoffs of the 2011 season and Delhi Daredevils were out of the completion.