The difference between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils was not just 14 runs that will show up in the results column, but a far greater difference of intent, instinct and application.

The body language of the Mumbai Indians on field was a statement in itself - they believed they could successfully defend a small total at a traditional batsmen’s paradise. And the Delhi batsmen ended up believing in it too, as the top order added up to just 20 runs.

After a clinical bowling performance, Delhi would have thought they had more than a fair chance of defeat the table-toppers and breaking their five-match winning streak. But in the end, DD just didn’t have the mental strength to go through with the plan. In Kagiso Rabada’s words, Delhi lost to “soft dismissals,” also known as a general lack of application.

A bad day for batsmen

There were not as many demons on the pitch as the Delhi top order seemed to imagine. Indeed, it was two Delhi batsmen who top scored among both teams – Chris Morris with a fluent 52 off 41 balls, while Kagiso Rabada made a fighting 39-ball 44. The rest of Delhi made 24.

But blundering batsmen seemed to be the trend of the evening, with even the celebrated Mumbai batting order suffering a rare, collective failure. The explosive batting line up that blasted 199 in about 15 overs a few days back was on the mat against Delhi’s incisive bowling and intense fielding.

Giving credit where credit is due, Delhi were a different side when they were fielding, after Zaheer Khan won the toss and decided to chase. Zaheer was aggressive in his field placements and the team was on the ball, affecting three run outs. Add to that some rash shots that made way for simple catches, and the target ultimately was not imposing. Consider this – after the first five overs, Mumbai were cruising at 47/1, at the end of the 10 overs, Delhi restricted them to 68/4 and the momentum thus killed, the batsmen couldn’t pile on the big runs at Wankdede, where the average first innings score in the last five matches has been a much higher 171.

Delhi top order’s utter lack of fight

But Mumbai didn’t let the batting failure affect the bowling and Delhi’s utter lack of application didn’t help. Of the seven Delhi wickets that fell, perhaps only Hardik Pandya’s sensational run out of opener Aditya Tare was unavoidable, even though a suicidal run in the first over wasn’t exactly necessary. The other batsmen followed the march to the dug out on the back of some bad decisions and irrational shots. Without Sam Billings at the top, the onus was on the likes of Sanju Samson and Corey Anderson to be the batting leaders, but that was a far cry from what transpired.

Faced with Mitch McLenaghan’s aggressive bowling, Samson drove a ball straight to the fielder at mid-off in the third over. Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, attempted to play a wideish ball from the New Zealander that could have been left alone and edged it straight to the keeper. Anderson departed in the very same over as his missed a McLenaghan delivery that rapped him high on the pads, and Delhi’s biggest batting hope of the match walked back on a duck. Rishabh Pant’s dismissal was even more dismal as he edged a Jasprit Bumrah delivery straight to slip for a three-ball duck.

And then Karun Nair, whose woeful form continues, missed a fairly straight delivery from Hardik Pandya and chopped it on his stumps, managing only five runs from 15 balls. Delhi were in tatters at 24 for six in less than seven overs and many were preparing for an early night, before the Rabada-Morris stand gave a faint glimmer of hope.

Batting order daredevilry continues

Morris and Rabada put up a valuable partnership of 91 – a more than half of the target and way more than the rest of the team. At one point, the run rate was less than four and the asking rate touched 10 and then 12. But the duo accelerated the innings to bring the run rate to six, without losing another wicket till the penultimate over. The two South Africans put on a classic rescue act – rotating strike, putting away the bad balls, getting boundaries regularly and building a partnership.

Yet, they fell short, and for no fault of theirs. Delhi fell short because the Delhi think tank didn’t give them enough of a chance to chase the target.

Morris was once again kept behind, coming in at No 8 this time, after Rabada. After the last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, when Delhi had fallen short by a mere 15 runs in a chase of 192. That was due in large part to the batting order, where a struggling Angelo Mathews was sent ahead of an in form Morris, which proved to be decisive in the end. It was argued that Delhi needed to rethink their batting order and give the likes of Morris and Pant enough opportunity to get a match-winning knock started by sending them higher. But the same, inexplicable decision was persisted with gainst Mumbai, and Morris was sent lower down once again, so low that even a top score of 52 was not enough to chase 143.

Why would a player with a strike rate of over 200 (before the match) and in good touch with an average touching 40, be sent at No 8 in a crucial is a question only Delhi can answer. And when Morris brought them close to a win with mature batting, Delhi would have rued the opportunity lost.

Delhi Daredevils play their next game on Friday in Kolkata, which gives them a good five days to regroup, rethink and rejuvenate. It’ll be a crucial task for Paddy Upton, Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan, because after their third loss on the trot, Delhi need to be inspired if they are to reach the playoff this season.