It was sheer show of dominance by the Delhi Daredevils (DD) at Ferozeshah Kotla where they hosted the mighty Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday. DD who are looking the best team of the Indian Premier League V could not have justified the tag had they not beaten MI. This is the second time in the tournament that they have beaten Harbhajan and Co and that too by a convincing margin. Riding on some great knocks up ahead in the batting order, DD managed to breach the 200 runs marks in the tournament. In pursuit of 208, MI lost their openers, including the maestro Sachin Tendulkar for cheap. And after that  MI just could not get into the groove and collapsed like a house of cards and lost the match by 37 runs.

Here are some of the performances that decided the course of the match:

Hits and flops of Delhi Daredevils:

Mahela Jayawerdene: He was not able to play to his worth till yesterday. And what a day he chose to prove his credentials. He scored 55 of 42 deliveries which included eight boundaries. He pierced the gaps well and  did not spare any bad deliveries. His 135 runs first wicket partnership with Virender Sehwag laid the winning foundation.

Virender Sehwag: This IPL has seen Sehwag reinvent himself again. Before coming into the tournament, he was struggling with his form but he has shut up his critics with match winning knocks that he has played in IPL V. He was murderous as usual in the last match and did not allow MI bowlers to settle. He scored a quick fire 39 balls 72 laced with eight fours and four huge sixes.

Kevin Pietersen: He came into the tournament with a good run in Sri Lanka and continued with his form. He already has few match winnings knocks against his name including a century against Deccan Chargers. He scored one more half century last night to see that the good work done by Sehwag-Mahela did not go to waste. He scored 50 of 26 deliveries which included six fours and three sixes.

Flops:

There were some bad performances in their camp too but did not have any detrimental effect on Delhi’s cause.

Hits and flops of Mumbai Indians:

Hits:

Ambati Rayudu: After his match winning knock against Kings XI Punjab, he was playing well to give Delhi an outside chance in the match but could not succeed as he lost his wicket in the pursuit. He scored 62 of 39 deliveries which included five fours and three sixes.

Dinesh Karthik: He played well for his 28 balls 40 which was laced with seven fours, and was supporting Rayudu well. But after he departed it went Hayward for the Mumbai Indians.

Flops:

Bowlers: The bowlers let Mumbai Indians down very badly in the match. Barring Lasith Malinga and Robin Peterson, none of the bowlers could offer any resistance and bowled miserably. DD got on top them from the onset and took them to the cleaners. Mumbai would have to work on this department in order to march into the play-offs.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury

Indian Sports News