Mumbai Indians seem to have done their Houdini act once again in the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they came from the brink and outsmarted Delhi Daredevils at the Wankhede Stadium. The win catapulted Mumbai to the fourth position in the tournament when they were looking lost a week ago.
Mumbai were tottering at 48 runs for 4 wickets, when the power play ended, until rain played spoilsport for Daredevils and the streaks of lightning and thunder that enveloped the dark Mumbai skyline were later seen on the field of play when Mumbai resumed their innings.
Mumbai skipper, Rohit Sharma and the in-form Ambati Rayudu sang a robust duet adding 60 runs much to the delight of the Mumbai camp. With 53 runs needed, Kieron Pollard set the house on fire with an explosive innings of 26 of 14 balls. Mumbai’s batting strength was evident once again. Even when Daredevils had castled four wickets, their skipper JP Duminy knew that Mumbai’s best was yet to come.
The Mumbai wagon has slowly gained momentum over the past four games with their attack playing a crucial role in their success. Lasith Malinga once again set the ball rolling with a first ball wicket and Indian veteran Harbhajan Singh played Uncle Scrooge with elan, throttling the Daredevil batting line-up.
On song
It took the genius of Yuvraj Singh who blasted the bowling to help Daredevils put up a decent score, that gave his bowlers an outside chance to try and unsettle the home team. The south-paw played like a daredevil and delighted the crowd with big hits being severe on Mitchell McCleanaghan whom he smashed for two consecutive sixers.
Watching Yuvraj in form is a delight and he did not disappoint his fans with his innings. He still has the ability of being a match winner and this knock must have given him loads of confidence.
The Mumbai crowd got their money's worth watching some fabulous shots played by Yuvraj, Sharma, Rayudu and Pollard. Even though it was for a losing cause, Yuvraj’s effort certainly gave him solace considering the criticism he has been receiving ever since the Daredevils brought him for Rs 16 crores.
Ambati Rayudu’s match winning, unbeaten knock of 49 runs must have soothed the Mumbai camp as the talented middle-order batsman’s form has added a lot of depth to the batting. With Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel, Sharma and Pollard looking good, Mumbai can now plan ahead for the tougher games to follow.
Small test
The good news for Mumbai is the return of Corey Anderson who joined the squad on Monday. The Kiwi, who had fractured his finger earlier in the tournament, can play an important role if Mumbai qualifies for the play offs.
The areas that the Mumbai think-tank could look at beefing up are a batting spot in the middle-order and two bowlers. So far, they have experimented with Unmukt Chand, Hardik Pandya who have shown patchy form up the order and though Vinay Kumar and Jagdeesha Suchith have done a good job, Mumbai would be hoping to get more output from them to make their combination perfect.
The team also looks to have settled down at the Wankhede Stadium, where they will be playing two games - against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. For them, the next match against table leaders Chennai Super Kings at Chennai will be a small test of how ready they are as the league stage is nearing its conclusion.
Now that Mumbai are among the top four in the team table, their biggest challenge is to stay there. The Chennai game may be the last opportunity for Mumbai to finalise their batting and bowling combinations.
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Mumbai were tottering at 48 runs for 4 wickets, when the power play ended, until rain played spoilsport for Daredevils and the streaks of lightning and thunder that enveloped the dark Mumbai skyline were later seen on the field of play when Mumbai resumed their innings.
Mumbai skipper, Rohit Sharma and the in-form Ambati Rayudu sang a robust duet adding 60 runs much to the delight of the Mumbai camp. With 53 runs needed, Kieron Pollard set the house on fire with an explosive innings of 26 of 14 balls. Mumbai’s batting strength was evident once again. Even when Daredevils had castled four wickets, their skipper JP Duminy knew that Mumbai’s best was yet to come.
The Mumbai wagon has slowly gained momentum over the past four games with their attack playing a crucial role in their success. Lasith Malinga once again set the ball rolling with a first ball wicket and Indian veteran Harbhajan Singh played Uncle Scrooge with elan, throttling the Daredevil batting line-up.
On song
It took the genius of Yuvraj Singh who blasted the bowling to help Daredevils put up a decent score, that gave his bowlers an outside chance to try and unsettle the home team. The south-paw played like a daredevil and delighted the crowd with big hits being severe on Mitchell McCleanaghan whom he smashed for two consecutive sixers.
Watching Yuvraj in form is a delight and he did not disappoint his fans with his innings. He still has the ability of being a match winner and this knock must have given him loads of confidence.
The Mumbai crowd got their money's worth watching some fabulous shots played by Yuvraj, Sharma, Rayudu and Pollard. Even though it was for a losing cause, Yuvraj’s effort certainly gave him solace considering the criticism he has been receiving ever since the Daredevils brought him for Rs 16 crores.
Ambati Rayudu’s match winning, unbeaten knock of 49 runs must have soothed the Mumbai camp as the talented middle-order batsman’s form has added a lot of depth to the batting. With Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel, Sharma and Pollard looking good, Mumbai can now plan ahead for the tougher games to follow.
Small test
The good news for Mumbai is the return of Corey Anderson who joined the squad on Monday. The Kiwi, who had fractured his finger earlier in the tournament, can play an important role if Mumbai qualifies for the play offs.
The areas that the Mumbai think-tank could look at beefing up are a batting spot in the middle-order and two bowlers. So far, they have experimented with Unmukt Chand, Hardik Pandya who have shown patchy form up the order and though Vinay Kumar and Jagdeesha Suchith have done a good job, Mumbai would be hoping to get more output from them to make their combination perfect.
The team also looks to have settled down at the Wankhede Stadium, where they will be playing two games - against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. For them, the next match against table leaders Chennai Super Kings at Chennai will be a small test of how ready they are as the league stage is nearing its conclusion.
Now that Mumbai are among the top four in the team table, their biggest challenge is to stay there. The Chennai game may be the last opportunity for Mumbai to finalise their batting and bowling combinations.