Daredevils win; batsmen again disappoint Indians

In one of the crucial matches of IPL on Friday (May 08) the batsmen of Mumbai Indians again failed to rise to the occasion which led to a seven-wicket victory for Delhi Daredevils. It was Delhi’s sixth win in eight games, while the fifth loss in nine games for Mumbai.

In a low scoring encounter, Delhi’s inform batsman Abraham de Villiers continuing his good form posted the second fifty in this IPL. He remained unbeaten on 50 (38 balls) while chasing the winning total of 117 and Daredevils won the match with seven balls to spare.

Earlier batting first, a new opening pair for Mumbai couldn’t bring any upbeat show when they lost two quick wickets in the very first over; JP Duminy and Luke Ronchi went without scoring a run. Sachin Tendulkar, who was playing cautiously in the absence of Sanath Jayasuriya, only managed to put 15 of 14 balls before got run out by the wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.

However, Dwayne Bravo’s 35 off 30 balls and few more contributions from the lower-middle order finally landed to a total of 116. It is Mumbai Indians’ lowest innings total in the IPL. In the first edition, they had posted 116 for nine against Kings XI Punjab at Mohali.

For Delhi Daredevils, Rajat Bhatia finished up his spell with three wickets conceding just 15 runs while Ashish Nehra and DP Nannes picked up two wickets each to restrict Indians at 116 in 20 overs.

Despite a low total, the Mumbai bowlers – especially Harbhajan Singh and JP Duminy – pushed the match on to the edge until that over of Sachin Tendulkar which cost 19 runs to completely take away the match from the reach of Indians. AB de Villiers took on Sachin in the 16th over by hitting three boundaries and a lofty six over the dip midwicket boundary bringing the asking rate down and ensuring the victory.