April 14, 2018
Brief Scorecard: Delhi Daredevils 195 for 3 (Roy 91*, Pant 47, Krunal Pandya 2-21) beat Mumbai Indians 194 for 7 (Suryakumar 53, Lewis 48, Christian 2-35) by seven wickets
April 14, 2018: IPL 2018 Jason Roy, on Daredevils debut, was off to solid start – BCCI
April 14, 2018
Brief Scorecard: Delhi Daredevils 195 for 3 (Roy 91*, Pant 47, Krunal Pandya 2-21) beat Mumbai Indians 194 for 7 (Suryakumar 53, Lewis 48, Christian 2-35) by seven wickets
April 14, 2018: IPL 2018 Jason Roy, on Daredevils debut, was off to solid start – BCCI
MUMBAI – Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils had both lost their first two matches in the Indian Premier League 2018, and took decisions to reverse the trend when they faced off against each other at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday (April 14).
Mumbai promoted Suryakumar Yadav to open the batting for the first time in his seven-season IPL career, and Delhi got Jason Roy, making his franchise debut, to pair with Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order. Both Suryakumar and Roy made attacking half-centuries, but it was Roy’s unbeaten 53-ball 91 that stood out. He got adequate support from the rest of the batting line-up as Delhi chased down 195 off the last ball of the match for a seven-wicket win.
But pressure almost got to Roy before he became Delhi's hero. A terrific penultimate over from Jasprit Bumrah, where he conceded just five runs, boiled the equation down to 11 needed off six balls. Roy stayed still to hit a wide delivery from Mustafizur Rahman through cover for a four and then flicked him to fine-leg for six off the first two balls. Mustafizur struck back with three dot balls to get the 21,000 children – who were in the crowd as part of the Education and Sports for All initiative of the Mumbai franchise – excited. A long break ensued before Roy hit one over the in-field on the offside to eventually give Delhi two points.
The game’s decisive phase came after Suryakumar (53 off 32 balls) and Evin Lewis (48 off 28 balls) had put together an opening stand of 102, and Ishan Kishan made 44 off 23 balls. Mumbai lost five wickets for 21 runs, failing to build on a strong base. Rohit Sharma, Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya contributed just 31 off 28 balls, and Kieron Pollard was bowled off his first ball, as Mumbai fell at least 25 runs short of their predicted target after being 84 for no loss in the Power Play overs.
Roy started off with a bang, taking Delhi to 50 in the first five overs despite Bumrah and Mustafizur conceding a combined six runs in the third and fourth overs. Mustafizur dismissed Gambhir in the sixth over, but Mumbai could do little to stop the duo of Roy and Rishabh Pant.
With Roy settled at one end, Pant used his brute power to hit flat shots square of the wicket and also played the lofts straight down the pitch well to collect six fours and two sixes in his 25-ball 47. He had added 69 with Roy when Pollard dived to his left at long-off to end the partnership.
Hardik bettered Pollard’s catch when he covered a significant distance to his left from long-off to catch Glenn Maxwell. Krunal was the beneficiary on both occasions, as Delhi's score read 135 for 3 in 13.2 overs.
It mattered little to Shreyas Iyer (27 not out), who had a good batting night, which allowed Roy more breathing space. With 34 needed off the last four overs, Roy was dropped at short third-man by Mustafizur and then pulled the next ball to the square-leg fence. Another boundary in the same Bumrah over from Iyer’s bat was followed by a similar kind of a dropped catch by Mustafizur to keep Delhi ahead. The unbroken association of Roy and Iyer was worth 60 runs.
It could have been a different script for Mumbai had their famed batting unit applied them a bit better.
Suryakumar’s second IPL fifty, which earned him a standing ovation from Sachin Tendulkar, was filled with the confidence of a man playing in his backyard. With the pitch flat, he played through the line and was also innovative with his shot selections. With Lewis in good touch too, there were 11 fours and four sixes, and only 14 dot balls, before the field restrictions were lifted.
There were no boundaries for the next 14 balls, and it resulted in Lewis mistiming a googly from Rahul Tewatia and being caught at long-off. Tewatia struck once again in his next over when Suryakumar missed a googly while sweeping and was adjudged leg before wicket. He immediately reviewed it, and Ultra Edge showed a slight spike when the ball passed the gloves. The third umpire, however, did not consider that and stayed with the on-field umpire’s decision. Rohit Sharma, the next man to come in, did not hide his displeasure.
Kishan, meanwhile, picked the length early and used his feet well to hit five fours and two sixes, but his attempt to reverse sweep a full toss from Daniel Christian resulted in him being bowled in the 16th over. Pollard was bowled off the next delivery and suddenly Delhi had the momentum going into the innings break.
Courtesy/Source: Wisden India
