Indian Premier League (IPL) defending champions Mumbai Indians succumbed to their fourth consecutive loss by going down to the Delhi Daredevils by six wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest target of 126, the Daredevils comfortably reached home with seven balls to spare. Though it was a match between the two bottom-placed teams, Daredevils have now lifted themselves to sixth position in the eight-team league
The Delhi bowlers produced a clinical display to restrict Mumbai Indians to a modest 125 for six. Pacers Jaydev Unadkat (2/29) and Wayne Parnell (1/17) and spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (1/19) shared four wickets to strangle the Mumbai batting unit in their stipulated 20 overs after skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat.
Skipper Pietersen employed a spin/pace attack early on with Nadeem and Mohammad Shami starting the proceedings for Delhi, followed by J P Duminy and Wayne Parnell.
Mumbai Skipper Rohit Sharma (4) was the first to walk back to the pavilion when his attempt to steal a quick single ended up with a runout orchestrated by pacer Shami in the second over.
In the fourth over, Parnell dismissed Aditya Tare (8) when he had him caught at deep midwicket by Quinton de Kock, while Corey Anderson’s 14-ball 13-run stay was cut shot by Jaydev Unadkat in his first over.
Mumbai could just manage 37 for the loss of two wickets in the powerplay. Runs dried up further and the mounting pressure took a toll on Ambati Rayudu (14) when his lofted shot off Nadeem found Laxmi Shukla at long on.
In the 11th over, Michael Hussey (10) brought up the fifty for Mumbai with a single but he too was sent back to the dugout by a slower yorker in the 14th over as Mumbai lost half of their side with 63 on board.
Kieron Pollard (33) and Chidhambaram Gautam (22) then joined hands and tried to raise the tempo with some big shots. The duo shared a 40-run partnership off 29 balls for the sixth wicket.
Pollard brought up the first six of the innings in the 16th over when he sent Shami sailing over long-on, while Gautam blasted successive boundaries off Unadkat in the 17th over.
In the next over, Pollard tried to steal a nonexistent double but it ended with Gautam losing his wicket.
The West Indies all-rounder then smashed a four and a six off Shami, while Harbhajan singh (10) blasted a four and six to help Mumbai put a modest total on board.
Mumbai fielded an unchanged side, while Daredevils made one change by bringing in Kedar Jadhav for Manoj Tiwary in their playing XI.
Scores:
Mumbai Indians:
R Sharma run out 4
A Tare c de Kock b Parnell 8
C Anderson c de Kock b Unadkat 13
A Rayudu c Shukla b Nadeem 14
M Hussey b Unadkat 10
K Pollard not out 33
C Gautam† run out 22
H Singh retired hurt 10
Z Khan not out 0
Extras (LB—6, WD—4, NB—1) 11
Total (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 125
Fall of wickets: 1—10, 2—17, 3—39, 4—46, 5—63, 6—103.
Bowling: S Nadeem 4—0—19—1, Mohammed Shami 4—0—36—0, JP Duminy 3—0—13—0, W Parnell 5—0—28—1, J Unadkat 3—0—18—2, LR Shukla 1—0—5—0.
Delhi Daredevils:
Q de Kock c Hussey b Anderson 16
M Vijay b Sharma 40
JP Duminy c Wankhede b Malinga 19
K Pietersen not out 26
D Karthik c Rayudu b Malinga 2
K Jadhav not out 14
Extras (LB—2, WD—2, PENALTY—5) 9
Total (For 4 wickets in 18.5 overs) 126
Fall of wickets: 1—34, 2—79, 3—103, 4—105.
Bowling: L Malinga 4—0—17—2, P Ojha 4—0—26—0, Z Khan 2.5—0—17—0, Harbhajan Singh 4—1—23—0, C Anderson 2—0—16—1, R Sharma 2—0—20—1
Teams:
Delhi Daredevils: KP Pietersen (C), Q de Kock, M Vijay, KD Karthik, JP Duminy, KM Jadhav, LR Shukla, WD Parnell, S Nadeem, Mohammed Shami, JD Unadkat.
Mumbai: RG Sharma (C), MEK Hussey, AP Tare, CJ Anderson, KA Pollard, AT Rayudu, CM Gautam, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, PP Ojha, SL Malinga.
