Daredevils steamroll Mumbai
For a moment, we all thought that there was a mistake. We surfed all the channels three times over until we realized that it wasn’t a figment of our imagination after all. Mumbai Indians did get all out for 92 in the first innings. That’s 9.2 runs per wicket and 4.75 runs per over. Two guys scoring in double digits. 4 Delhi bowlers getting 2 wickets each. Expectedly, Sehwag and team had little trouble overcoming the score and taking Delhi to the top of the table.
The pitch was a surprisingly bouncy one that helped Delhi’s fast bowlers. Shahzam Nadeem struck twice, early in the innings to remove the Mumbai openers. Rohit Sharma was testing his luck by edging the ball in exquisite manners and Ambati Rayadu was feeling generous as he decided to give the opposition two goes at getting him run out. Kieron Pollard was not going to will the ball into the stadium rows today, and Kartik was not going to rise to the occasion. It was the skipper Harbhajan Singh who struck a couple of healthy blows off Agarkar to give Mumbai some hope of posting a decent total, but it was short lived too. Morkel cleaned up the proceedings and left Mumbai high and dry on the lowest score of IPL 2012.
With the absence of Malinga, Mumbai Indians were always facing the barrel. Sehwag seemed to be enjoying himself, as he steadied the innings with Naman Ojha and eased Delhi towards the score. He departed shortly before the score was overhauled, to be replaced by Ross Taylor who accompanied Mahela Jayawardene to the finish line and completed a crushing win for Delhi inside 15 overs.
Shot of the day
Sehwag’s flat six over the point boundary was the shot of the day. It dented the advertisement boards as well as any hopes that the home team was nursing of defending the score.
Mr. Consistent
Morne Morkel has taken 1 three-wicket haul and 3 two-wicket hauls in the four matches that he has played. Talk about making an impact.
Mr. Welcome back
Ross Taylor played his first match of the season in Delhi colours. Though he came at a time when the match was already in the bag, he did remind us of his improvising ability when he slapped down a bouncer from Munaf Patel which raced away to the mid-wicket boundary.
Mr. Where were you?
It may have been for a seemingly hopeless cause, but Harbhajan Singh could have bowled up front and tried to put some pressure on Delhi’s top order. Instead, the fans had to cope with his disconcerting absence for the entire innings.
Player wasted
Dinesh Kartik is playing down the order for Mumbai Indians, but he has proved his hitting ability playing for the Daredevils previously, and could be a useful opener to partner Richard Levi.
Player missed
The Indian economy suffers a jolt every time Sachin Tendulkar gets injured. Mumbai fans will be praying for the stalwart to come back and make his presence felt.
The match has left the Mumbai Indians licking their wounds and the Daredevils bolstered and confident. While Delhi have a working combination in place, Mumbai are still mulling over possible combinations and will have to work out the formula sooner rather than later. As for the championship, let us hope that the fans get to watch more competitive encounters for the rest of the season.
Other articles that might interest you :
https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/16/an-ipl-xi-of-certain-nobodies/
https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/16/daredevils-decimate-mumbai-indians/