Delhi feel at home again

New Delhi, Delhi Daredevils finally put their dubious record of nine consecutive losses at the Feroze Shah Kotla behind them as they spanked former champions Mumbai Indians by 37 runs in the IPL match here on Thursday.

Struggling for momentum, form and that elusive win at the home venue, Delhi’s batting finally came good on a placid Kotla track as their top and middle order fired in unison to conjure up 190 for four in 20 overs. Defending a competitive total, Delhi’s agile fielders complemented their bowlers well with some breath-taking catches and brilliant diving efforts to restrict Mumbai to 153 for nine, handing them their fifth defeat of the ongoing season.
Delhi largely owed their success to the leg-spin duo of Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir, who choked the flow of runs in the middle and death overs, to suck the momentum out of the Mumbai chase.
Mishra put the lid on Mumbai’s mid-innings charge with twin strikes of Unmukt Chand (14) and Kieron Pollard (10) to leave the visitors tottering at 82 for 4. Then Tahir’s three-wicket burst towards the end, which saw two back-to-back wickets of Hardik Pandya (0) and Mitchell McClenaghan (0), completely broke the back of Mumbai’s inconsistent chase.
Tahir was also involved in a sensational sprint effort in the field to send back opener Parthiv Patel for 28. The South African dived full length to his right at mid-wicket region after covering a decent ground from deep square leg to cap off a remarkable day. But the Mumbai downfall had begun much earlier when a brilliant catch by skipper JP Duminy at long-on despite suffering from cramps saw the end of Lendl Simmons for 15. Duminy pedalled back from mid-on, then moved to his right, turned back and dived across to his right to neatly grab the skier.
Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (30) and Ambati Rayudu (30) tried hard to bring the visitors back into the match with a 49-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but once Rohit and Rayudu departed within striking distance of each other in the 17th over, the chase for Mumbai was all but over.
It would be noteworthy to mention here that Mumbai also struggled due to the absence of all-rounder Corey Anderson, who has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL due to a fractured finger on his left hand.
Scoreboard
Delhi Daredevils
M Agarwal c Rayudu b McClenaghan 1
S Iyer b Malinga 83
JP Duminy not out 78
A Mathews c Patel b McClenaghan 17
Y Singh c Pollard b Bumrah 2
K Jadhav not out 1
Extras (LB-1, WD-6, NB-1) 8
Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 190
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-156, 3-174, 4-187
Bowling
M McClenaghan 4-0-38-2
L Malinga 4-0-23-1
J Bumrah 4-0-55-1
H Singh 4-0-34-0
H Pandya 2-0-14-0
K Pollard 2-0-25-0
Mumbai Indians
L Simmons c Duminy b Muthuswami 15
P Patel c Tahir b Mathews 28
U Chand st Jadhav b Mishra 14
R Sharma c Nadeem b Coulter-Nile 30
K Pollard c Nadeem b Mishra 10
A Rayudu c Coulter-Nile b Tahir 30
H Pandya c Coulter-Nile b Tahir 0
H Singh c J Yadav b Mathews 9
M McClenaghan c Jadhav b Tahir 0
L Malinga not out 6
J Bumrah not out 0
Extras (B-2, WD-9) 11
Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 153
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-48, 3-68, 4-82, 5-131, 6-131, 7-135, 8-135, 9-153
Bowling
N Coulter-Nile 4-0-36-1
D Muthuswami 2-0-7-1
JP Duminy 1-0-14-0
A Mathews 2-0-15-2
A Mishra 4-0-32-2
S Nadeem 3-0-25-0
I Tahir 4-0-22-3