The match between Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians disappointed even before the match started. It was a match where the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar who is nursing a finger injury sustained in the inaugural match of IPL V against Chennai was expected to make a comeback. But he did not take the field disappointing thousands gathered in the ground and country wide.
Nevertheless, people still expected some firepower, but Mumbai Indians who were sent into bat first by Delhi displayed some sloppy batting and were bundled out for 92. It was the first time that a team has not been able to go past 100 runs in this year’s IPL. Delhi eased past the target with seven wickets to spare. It is not very often that a match in T20 format turns out to be a dull, one-sided affair.

Here are some hits and flops of the match:

Delhi Daredevils

Hits:

Bowling: Delhi Daredevils bowled with conviction and never allowed Mumbai Indians to settle. They used the conditions well and drew the first blood in the second over of the match itself. And after that they never looked back and just drilled through the Mumbai’s batting line up. All the five bowlers used by Delhi managed to take wickets.

Virender Sehwag: He led from the front and the way he started looked like he wanted to finish off in a hurry. The first ball that Sehwag faced off Munaf Patel, he hit it for a six over the point and looked like he was on a mood to carry out a rampage. But then as the innings progressed, he slowed down and was looking very calm and composed. He eventually scored 32 off 36 deliveries which consisted of two fours and one six.

Flops:

It was a clinical performance by the visiting team and it did not had any flops

Mumbai Indians

Hits

Rohit Sharma: In absence of Sachin Tendulkar, he is the one who the team is looking to perform and he did his bit before getting out unfortunately after he top edged one which travelled all the way to the fielder at deep backward square. He played well for his 29 of 27 including five fours and it was looking as though he would recover his team from the straits.

Harbhajan Singh: On a day when batsmen collapsed like a house of cards, they found an unlikely hero and it was none other than their skipper Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan, who is known for his hitting skills, came up with a great cameo of 33 of just 22 deliverries which comprised of five fours and a six.

Flops:

Batting: Their batting looked scattered all over the place without the presence of Sachin Tendulkar. None of the batsmen could execute their shots properly and lacked conviction. Barring Rohit and Harbhajan none of their batsmen could cross double figure mark.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury

Indian Sports News