Mumbai Indians on top of IPL table after comeback win against Delhi Daredevils

Mumbai: Mumbai Indians notched-up their sixth consecutive victory in the 2017 IPL campaign, after a brilliant performance by their bowlers.

Mumbai, who were put in to bat first by Delhi Daredevils skipper Zaheer Khan, won the match by 14 runs after a top class bowling performance saw them defend a modest total of 142.

Man of the Match Mitchell McClenaghan stood out with the ball, with figures of 3-23 from his quota of four overs.

Delhi Daredevils, who experienced a top order collapse, were taken close to the total by Kagiso Rabada (44 from 39 balls) and Chris Morris (52* from 41 balls).

After posting a modest total of 142 on the board, Mumbai Indians got off to a cracking start in the second innings of the match.

Hardik Pandya sent Aditya Tare back to the pavilion in the very third ball of the second innings, as he got a direct throw in from the in-field.

The visitors were dealt the one-two blow, when Sanju Samson played an uppish drive off Mitchell McClenaghan, only managing to lob the ball straight at Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma.

McClenaghan put Delhi in deeper trouble, as he plucked out the wickets of  Shreyas Over and Corey Anderson in the 4th over, by the end of which, DD were tottering at 21-4.

The onslaught was nowhere near to being over though, as Rishabh Pant edged an angled Jasprit Bumrah delivery to Harbhajan Singh at first slip, and Karun Nair edged a Hardik Pandya delivery onto his stumps.

At 24 for 6 from 6.3 overs, Delhi looked set for the lowest total in IPL history, which is currently held by suspended team Rajasthan Royals, who had been all out for 58 from 15.1 overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore, at Cape Town, in 2009.

Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris steadied the ship with a 91-run partnership, though the former perished in the end, as Bumrah cleaned-up his stumps in the 19th over.

This left Rabada’s compatriot Morris, and Aussie Pat Cummins needing to score 23 runs off the last over, to win it for DD.

Morris brought up his fifty off the first three balls of the last over, but the fate of the game was sealed, when he could only take a single, when his side needed 17 to win off three balls, as the Wankhede Stadium broke out into rapturous applause.

Earlier, the Delhi Daredevils bowlers got them off to a great start, after skipper Zaheer Khan won the toss and put Mumbai Indians in to bat first.

South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada, who was brought into the XI, in place of Angelo Mathews struggled with his line and length early on, giving away a few extras.

However, 21-year-old came back brilliantly in the 4th over, to get the first breakthrough for DD.

He got Parthiv Patel’s (8) wicket with a perfect yorker into the blockhole.

That swung the game completely in the Delhi outfit's favour, as they continued to take wickets at regular intervals.

In the very next over, Sanju Samson sent Jos Butter back to the pavilion with a brilliant piece of fielding. Samson took a dive on the run, and threw the ball underarm at the stumps.

Pat Cummins dealt another blow to DD, who were looking to rebuild their innings through captain Rohit Sharma and in-form batsman Nitish Rana.

Rana, who has proved to be one of the key batters for Mumbai, pulled Cummins on the leg side, only to pick out Corey Anderson at deep midwicket.

Five balls later, it was the skipper’s turn to bite the dust. Rohit swept an Amit Mishra delivery against the spin, and lobbed another easy catch for Cummins at deep square leg.

These wickets slowed Mumbai’s scoring rate a lot, despite having big hitters like Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya at the crease.

However, even the Krunal-Pollard partnership (24 runs) was not to last for long, as Mishra deceived the former in the unlucky 13th over.

Krunal completely failed to pick Misha’s googly, and was caught in two minds, as the ball caught the edge of his bat and went straight into wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant's gloves.

Amit Mishra had yet another brilliant day with the ball, as he came out with figures of 2-18 from his quota of four overs.

Although Chris Morris had dropped Pollard on 19, Delhi did not go on to the decision, as a rising Cummins delivery soon caught the top edge of the West Indies cricketer’s bat and flew high into the Mumbai sky; Sanju Samson took a smart catch, running in from long-on.

The Mumbai innings never really took off, as both Harbhajan Singh and Hardik Pandya were sent back to the pavilion, courtesy some brilliant fielding by Rabada and Karin Nair, respectively.

The hosts eventually finished with a modest total of 142 for the loss of 8 wickets, from their quota of 20 overs.

This win takes MI to the top of the IPL table, as they notch up their sixth consecutive win in a row, after an opening day loss to Rising Pune Supergiant.

Scorecard

Mumbai Indians: P. Patel b Rabada 8, J. Buttler run out (Samson) 28, N. Rana c Anderson b Cummins 8, R. Sharma c Cummins b Mishra 5, K. Pollard c Samson b Cummins 26, K.H. Pandya c Pant b Mishra 17, H.H. Pandya run out (Nair/Pant) 24, Harbhajan Singh    run out (Rabada) 2, M.J. McClenaghan (not out) 1, M. Johnson (not out) 7. Extras (lb 5, w 10, nb 1) 16. Total (for 8 wickets in 19.5 overs) 142.

FoW: 1-37, 2-47, 3-56, 4-60, 5-84, 6-120, 7-132, 8-135.

Bowling: Rabada 4-0-30-1, Morris 4-0-33-0, Zaheer4-0-36-0, Mishra 4-1-18-2, Cummins 4-0-20-2.

Delhi Daredevils: S. Samson c Sharma b McClenaghan 9, A. Tare run out 0, K. Nair b H. Pandya 5, S. Iyer c Patel b McClenaghan 6, C. Anderson lbw b McClenaghan 0, R. Pant c Harbhajan Singh b Bumrah 0, K. Rabada b Bumrah 44, Chris Morris not out 52, P.  Cummins not out 4. Extras (b-2, lb-1, w-5) 8. Total (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 128.

FoW: 1-1, 2-10, 3-20, 4-21, 5-21, 6-24, 7-115.

Bowling: M. Johnson 4-1-23-0, M. McClenaghan 4-0-24-3, J. Bumrah 4-0-21-1, H. Pandya 3-0-23-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-26-0, K. Pandya 1-0-8-0.