Mumbai Indians earn a five-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils

Lasith Malinga appeals successfully during the match

Mumbai, May 6 (IANS)

Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma displayed excellent batting skills to help Mumbai Indians register a five-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter marred by stoppages at the Wankhede Stadium here early Wednesday.

For the winners, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard remained unbeaten on 49 and 26 runs, respectively, to help their side reach 153/5 in 19.3 overs in reply to the decent 152/6 posted by the Daredevils. The duo plundered 53 runs in only 4.1 overs to seal a victory for the hosts in the thrilling encounter that swung one end to the other throughout and also had a couple of rain and lightning-induced stoppages.

Chasing a 153-run target, the home side suffered an early blow in the very first legal ball as in-form opener Lendl Simmons had to depart for a duck. An in-swinger from Zaheer Khan struck Simmons on the front pad as he failed to make contact with the ball.

Hardik Pandya (5) perished in the very next over, with Imran Tahir catching a top edge off the bowling of Nathan Coulter-Nile. Mumbai were reduced to 8/2 in 1.5 overs then.

There were more jolts. Looking to up the scoring rate, Parthiv Patel (13) and Harbhajan Singh (5) – the latter promoted in the batting order – departed in the space of two overs thereafter, leaving Mumbai wobbling at 40/4 in 5.2 overs.

But, skipper Rohit Sharma looked positive from the outset as he notched a quick-fire 37-ball 46, but was undone by a googly from Amit Mishra in the 16th over.

Yuvi helped Delhi post a respectable total

Earlier, electing to bat, Daredevils got off a horrible start, losing opener Mayank Agarwal off the very first ball. It was a brilliant delivery from Lasith Malinga, which pitched up and swung outside off, Agarwal failed to judge and edged it to wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, as the home fans in the stadium erupted in joy..

The other opener Shreyas Iyer (19), too, did not last long. Harbhajan Singh snared him with his very first delivery. The visitors were then 43/2 in 5.1 overs. Skipper J.P. Duminy (28 off 19) looked in good form right from the start, but perished without converting his start to a big score by giving a return catch to Jagadeesha Suchith.

Other Daredevils batsmen, Kedar Jadhav (16) and Angelo Mathews (12), made their way back to the pavillion after brief stints in the middle.

But, Yuvraj Singh's (57 off 44) late cameo, with seven boundaries and two sixes, helped Delhi Daredevils post a formidable score.

For Mumbai, offie Harbhajan Singh (2/11) and Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga (2/33) were the main wicket-takers. The 16 dot balls bowled by Harbhajan Singh today were the second-most in this season’s IPL after Mitchell Johnson’s 17 against Mumbai Indians.