Delhi Daredevils opener Jason Roy made a blistering start to his 2018 IPL campaign by hitting an unbeaten 91 on Saturday as Mumbai Indians once against lost a last-over thriller, this time by seven wickets with no balls to spare.
The Mumbai Indians hit top gear in the powerplay batting first, racing to 100 without loss in the ninth over. But the Daredevils hit back at the death, taking five wickets in the last five overs for just 36 runs as the hosts posted 194-7.
In reply, Englishman Roy took it upon himself to get the job done as he scored almost half of the team’s runs. His 53-ball knock included six hits to the fence and as many over it and despite facing three dot balls in a tense final over bowled by Mustafizur Rahman, Roy took Delhi past the finish line.
It was the third straight defeat in the final over for defending champions Mumbai. They lost the first two matches of the campaign by one wicket – with one and zero balls to spare – and on Saturday they lost the match off the final ball.
BLISTERING START
It was a new opening combination for Mumbai Indians with captain Rohit Sharma moving to the middle order. Evin Lewis (48 off 28 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (53 off 32 balls) added 102 inside nine overs for the opening wicket. Both looked equally at ease against spin and pace on a true Wankhede wicket. They were also helped by the fact that the Daredevils bowling attack only had two prominent names in Trent Boult and Mohammed Shami.
DELHI PULL THINGS BACK
At 158-2 after 15 overs and with captain Rohit at the crease, a total of 200 seemed to be there for the taking. However, Daredevils pacer Dan Christian took the wickets of Ishan Kishan (44) and Kieron Pollard (0) off successive balls to stem the run flow. In the last 27 balls of the innings, Mumbai made just 28 runs and lost five wickets.
JASON TEES OFF
With Colin Munro struggling, the Daredevils went for Roy and the Englishman took the Wankhede by storm. While fellow opener and captain Gautam Gambhir moved along at barely run a ball, Roy went after Mumbai bowlers. He targeted seam and spin with equal disdain during his 91, ensuring he will be the first name to be picked in the Delhi squad from here on.
Roy was matched shot for shot by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant (47 off 25 balls) who played an authoritative innings, something he hasn’t managed regularly for some time.
Mumbai Indians becomes first team to lose two consecutive IPL games with 0 balls to spare...
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) April 14, 2018
ROY FINISHES THE GAME
Mumbai Indians, as has become the norm, fought back and took the game to the final over. Two fine catches in the deep – Pollard off Krunal Pandya at long off to dismiss Pant and Hardik Pandya off Krunal at extra cover to see the back of Glenn Maxwell (13) – put the pressure back on Daredevils.
Shreyas Iyer (27 off 20 balls) kept the tempo up after being helped by two dropped catches by Rahman at short third man in the 17th over. But a fine penultimate over by Jasprit Bumrah – where he gave away just five runs – meant Delhi needed 11 from the final over by Rahman.
Roy hit the first two balls for a four and a six but the Bangladesh seamer fought back by bowling three consecutive off cutters that beat the bat. With one needed off the last ball, Roy finally connected and the ball sailed over the infield as the Daredevils scampered home to victory.
