MI's IPL surge continues with win over DD

Sudhir Gupta 04:03 06/05/2015
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  • Man of the match: Harbhajan Singh.

    Mumbai Indians’ captain Rohit Sharma says a focused approach has helped the team stay in contention despite a horrible start to their campaign this season.

    Sharma has led from the front scoring 343 runs and he played another key role last night as Mumbai overcame a few jitters to down Delhi Daredevils by five wickets.

    It was Mumbai’s fourth straight win and catapulted them from seventh to fourth spot for the first time. Despite losing four of the first five games, Mumbai are now on an upswing with five wins in 10 games.

    Chasing Delhi’s 153 at the Wankhede Stadium, the Mumbai innings hit a trough as they tried to get ahead of the par score with a thunderstorm looming.

    After opener Lendl Simmons (0) was done in by the wily Zaheer Khan in the first over, Sharma tried to unsettle the rivals by promoting all-rounder Hardik Pandya (5).

    It did not bear fruit but Sharma continued with his experimentation by asking Harbhajan Singh (5) to step up at the fall of opener Parthiv Patel’s wicket.

    That move also failed and at the rain break, Mumbai were wobbling at 40-4, 16 runs behind the par score. It was the second time the players had trooped into the pavilion after thunder and lightning had forced a 20-minute break at the end of four overs.

    When play resumed after 30 minutes, Mumbai still had a mountain to climb with 113 runs needed from 14.4 overs. Sharma paced the innings beautifully in the company of Ambati Rayudu (49 not out in 40 balls) and they raised 60 runs in 10 overs.

    Sharma hit two fours and three sixes in his 37-ball 46 before he dragged an Amit Mishra googly onto his stumps. Rayudu and Kieron Pollard (26 not out off 14 balls) provided the finishing touches by smashing the remaining 53 runs in 4.1 overs. Rayudu cracked four fours and one six while Pollard carted three massive sixes to seal the win. 

    Earlier, Delhi’s $3m buy, Yuvraj Singh overcame a poor run to crack 57 off 42 balls, his second fifty in seven games. Yuvraj hit seven fours and two sixes as Delhi posted a competitive total of 152-6 in 20 overs.

    Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was the bowling hero for Mumbai conceding just 11 runs in his four overs, including a maiden.

    Sharma revealed they did not panic and were intent on winning. “Actually, we kept it very simple and we concentrated on the process. We just concentrated on what we could do to win the game. Eventually, getting the two points was important,” he said.

    While Mumbai are on course to make the playoffs cut, Delhi have the tough task of winning all their remaining four games to stay in contention.

    Delhi captain Jean-Paul Duminy feels his team is still in the race for a spot in the top four.

    “We picked early wickets but they set the game up for Pollard. We did not hit the yorkers as well as we would have liked,” he said. “We have to keep our heads up and keep focussing on the next game.

    “I thought Yuvraj played well and that’s a big positive for us. There is still a long way to go. 170-175 would have been par score tonight but to take it to the last over with that score was a good effort,” he added.

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