IPL 2018, MI vs DD: Hits and Misses

In a seemingly unbelievable turn of events, the defending champions have lost three games in a row to start their eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League: all the defeats have come off the last ball of the game!

Rohit Sharma and Co. hosted the Delhi Daredevils for an afternoon game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday (April 14). They put up an impressive batting performance in the first innings of the game and set up a hefty target of 195 for the visitors.

However, the Delhi based franchise put up a display of aggressive and powerful batting to take the game with seven wickets remaining.

Here are the hits and misses from the game.

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Hit: Mumbai opening pair

The pair added 102 runs for the first wicket

After failing to get off to a good start in their previous two outings, Mumbai made a welcome change at the top of the order. Young but talented batsman, Suryakumar Yadav, was promoted to open the innings with Evin Lewis, the West Indian batting powerhouse.

The right-hand left-hand combination worked wonders for the hosts, as they raced to 84-0 after the batting powerplay.

Yadav, who has been one of the consistent Indian talents of this tournament through the years, embraced his new batting position by scoring an impeccable fifty. He was finally dismissed by Rahul Tewatia in the 11th over of the innings, after scoring 53 runs off just 32 deliveries.

Lewis was just as effective, if not more. He missed out on a well-deserved half-century when he had to return to the pavilion after being dismissed by the same bowler for a knock of 48 runs. It is safe to say that the defending champions may have found a solution to their opening conundrum, for now.

The pair added 102 runs for the first wicket.

Miss: Kieron Pollard

Kieron Pollard was dismissed for a golden duck in the innings

The Trinidadian all-rounder has been a marquee player for the Mumbai Indians through the years, but has not made an impact on their results in IPL 2018 as of now.

He was sent ahead of the Pandya brothers to sustain the rapid scoring rate maintained by the top order MI batsmen. However, the ploy failed miserably as Kieron Pollard was dismissed for a golden duck in the innings.

Daniel Christian dismissed the West Indian in a terrific comeback over, wherein he took two crucial wickets for the visitors. Pollard walked down the wicket in an attempt to flick the ball to the leg side, but missed it completely and saw it crash against his leg stump.

Hit: Rishabh Pant

The wicketkeeper-batsman was lauded heavily by Gambhir in the lead up to the tournament

This up-and-coming Indian batsman showed why he is considered to be a bright prospect for the future of Indian cricket. Rishabh Pant came in to bat after the dismissal of his captain, and unravelled the MI bowling attack with his attacking stroke play.

His knock of 47 off 25 deliveries included four boundaries and two mammoth sixes, both of which came in the 10th over of the chase.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was lauded heavily by Gambhir in the lead up to the tournament. Pant has now replied to the faith ushered in him by his leader with a terrific knock under pressure at the top of the order.

Miss: Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir returned to the pavilion in the last over of the batting powerplay

The Delhi Daredevils skipper started this season with a well-made half-century against the Kings XI Punjab. However, he did not bat in the rain-affected game against the Rajasthan Royals after that.

In Mumbai, he was back at the top of the order for the visitors. He could not replicate his performance there though, and fell for a score of just 15 in 16 deliveries.

Chasing a score in excess of 190 is always hard and puts immense pressure on the opening batsmen. The run rate was seen affecting the former KKR skipper, as the pace of Mustafizur Rahman proved too much for the left-hander.

Gambhir returned to the pavilion in the last over of the batting powerplay, with DD in a strong position at 50-1 after 5.1 overs.

Hit: Jason Roy

Roy hit the winning runs for Delhi in his stupendous batting performance

The English batsman came into the DD batting order place of out-of-form Colin Munro in a decision that proved to be another masterstroke of Gambhir's captaincy. Jason Roy did not capitulate under the pressure of the big total and went all guns(and willows) blazing from the word go.

He thrashed the Mumbai bowlers to all parts of the ground and took the attack to the opposition, who were rattled by his swashbuckling batting. Wickets tumbled around him consistently, but that did not deter the right-handed batsman from going for his shots and getting the most out of them.

It was his singular effort that took Delhi over the line in a high-octane run chase and gave them their first victory of the tournament.

When DD required 11 runs off the ultimate over, Roy hit Rahman for a tremendous four off the very first delivery and followed it up with a massive six into the stands.

He hit the winning runs for Delhi in his stupendous batting performance, wherein he scored as many as 91 runs in just 53 balls.