As Expected Delhi Daredevils Win

Delhi Daredevils reclaimed their position at the top of the DLF Indian Premier League ladder with a seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians at the Buffalo Park here on Friday but they will be the first to concede that they did not manage the chase of 117-run target too well.

Playing their third successive match without the injured captain Virender Sehwag, Delhi Daredevils relied too much on David Warner’s aggression to get off to a flying start but he found the boundaries hard to come by. Dhawal Kulkarni had bowled a great spell with the new ball when he conceded just nine runs in three overs.

Lasith Malinga went for a few runs but Dwayne Bravo backed up Kulkarni’s effort with an over in which he gave away only two runs, setting the stage for the off-spinners to come on. Jean Paul Duminy and Harbhajan Singh bowled in tandem and brilliantly at that, the first flighting the ball and getting much turn and the Indian off-spinner pushing the ball through.

The Mumbai Indians off-spinners tied down the Delhi Daredevils so well, conceding just 36 runs in their eight overs, that Sachin Tendulkar was tempted to introduce himself after a chat with both these bowlers. The score read 74 for two in 15 overs – Delhi Daredevils needed 43 runs in the final five overs.

To his horror, Tendulkar did not find the right length. AB de Villiers flicked the flighted first delivery between mid-on and mid-wicket; the next ball was a full toss that AB gleefully put away for six over mid-wicket; the third delivery was pitched way too short and the batsman sent it to the mid-wicket fence. The match, as a contest, was effectively over.

AB reconfirmed that with another powerful pull off the fifth delivery that was way too short and the Tendulkar over finished with him conceding 19 runs to the Delhi Daredevils. Rohan Raje bowled three dot balls at the start of the 16th over but went for 11 runs off the next three balls, with Tillekeratne Dishan stroking the last two balls for fours. That sealed it.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians were unable to recover from a disastrous start. On a day when they had decided to drop Sanath Jayasuriya and field Like Ronchi in his place, the Australian wicket-keeper batsman was run out off the second ball, coming second best to Warner’s under-arm throw from cover.

As if that were not enough, the other opener Duminy was drawn to a beautiful outswinger from Dirk Nannes and was caught by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik and Mumbai Indians openers were both back in the hut in the first over itself. Tendulkar was run out by a direct hit from behind the stumps when he set off for a single without realising where he had played the ball.

Bravo played a lone hand, making 35 runs but the total was never going to challenge Delhi Daredevils – or so we thought until the Gautam Gambhir-led team responded so slowly and nearly made a hash of the chase.

For all that, with a sixth win in eight games, Delhi Daredevils moved to the top of the table with 12 points while Mumbai Indians wallow in the seventh place, with seven points from nine matches and needing to win all their remaining five games to stay in the reckoning for the semifinals.