Mumbai: Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma displayed excellent batting skills to help Mumbai Indians register a five wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter marred by rain-stoppages at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.
Rayudu and Kieron Pollard remained unbeaten on 49 and 26 runs respectively to help their side reach 153/5 in 19.3 overs, in reply to the decent 152/6 posted by the Daredevils.
The duo plundered 53 runs in only 4.1 overs to seal a victory for the hosts in a thrilling encounter that swung one way to the other throughout and also had a couple of rain-induced stoppages.
The home side suffered an early blow in the very first legal ball as in-form opener Lendl Simmons had to depart for a duck.
An in-swinger from Zaheer Khan struck Simmons on the front pad as he failed to make contact with the ball, making it easy for the umpire to raise his forefinger.
Hardik Pandya (5) perished in the very next over, with Imran Tahir catching a top edge off the bowling off Nathan Coulter-Nile. Mumbai then were 8/2 in 1.5 overs.
There were more jolts. Looking to up the scoring rate Parthiv Patel (13) and Harbhajan Singh (5) — the latter promoted in the batting order — departed in the space of two overs thereafter, leaving Mumbai wobbling at 40/4 in 5.2 overs.
But skipper Sharma looked to play positive from the outset as he notched a 37-ball 46, undone by a googly from Amit Mishra in the 16th over.
Earlier, electing to bat, Daredevils got off to a worst possible start, losing opener Mayank Agarwal off the very first ball.
It was a puzzle from Laith Malinga, pitched up and swinging outside off, Agarwal failed to judge, and edged it to wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, as the home fans in the stadium erupted in joy..
The other opener, Shreyas Iyer (19), also did not last long. Harbhajan snared him with his very first delivery. The visitors were then 43/2 in 5.1 overs.
Skipper J.P. Duminy (28 off 19) looked in good form right from the start, but soon perished giving a return catch to a diving Jagadeesha Suchith.
Other Daredevils batsmen Kedar Jadhav (16) and Angelo Mathews (12) made their way back to the pavilion after brief stints in the middle.
But Yuvraj Singh’s late cameo of 57 in 44 balls, with seven boundaries and two sixes, helped Delhi Daredevils post a formidable score.
For Mumbai, offie Harbhajan (2/11) and Sri Lankan pacer Malinga (2/33) were the main wicket-takers, with the 16 dot balls bowled by Harbhajan the second-most in IPL 2015 after Mitchell Johnsona’s 17 for Kings XI Punjab, against Mumbai.
