A terrific run chase brought about an edge-of-the-seat thriller as Delhi Daredevils defeated Mumbai Indians in a last-ball finish at the Wankhede Stadium. There was plenty of drama before Jason Roy provided the finishing blow, lifting left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman over cover to bring about Daredevils' first win in three matches.
Roy seemed undaunted by the pressure of having to gather 11 runs off the final over for his side.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
Roy sent the first ball racing to the cover fence and then flicked the next one off his front-foot over the long-leg rope. A quick single and the job would have been done, but Rahman did not allow Roy to score a single run off the next three deliveries. Perhaps out of sheer desperation, Mumbai Indians even made an unsuccessful review for a catch off the second-last ball of the match. After some anxious moments, Roy gathered his wits to hit the winning shot and avoided the match spill over to the Super over.
Roy made it a memorable day for himself, ending with an unbeaten 91 off 53 balls with a strike-rate of 171.69 and with half a dozen fours and as many sixes. After the departure of skipper Gautam Gambhir in the first ball of sixth over, Roy’s presence in the middle comforted Daredevils in its chase of 195.
Daredevils' hopes were strengthened when Rishabh Pant went after the leg-spinner Mayank Markande and scored a 25-ball 47 with half a dozen fours and two sixes. It was the duo's 69-run stand for the third wicket (off 40 balls) that turned the match in the visitor’s favour.
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It was the day of the fearless hitters at a venue where about 400 runs have been scored on seven occasions in the IPL.
First, Mumbai Indians' West Indian left-hander Evin Lewis and the in-form local talent Surayakumar Yadav showed their mettle against the Daredevils’ seamers.
A week after the inaugural match against Chennai Super Kings, the pitch here became a batting paradise. Lewis and Yadav made good use of it; their individual brilliance made it possible for their team to score 84 runs in the first six overs. It was the highest in 10 years of the league.
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While a total in excess of 200 was on the cards with 14 overs remaining, leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia applied the brakes by dismissing the openers. Left hander Ishan Kishan showed lot of courage, but the rest of the batsmen floundered, with seamer Dan Christian chipping in with the two wickets of Kishan and Kieron Pollard, but Krunal Pandya denied him the hat-trick.
Mumbai Indians has lost all three matches and perhaps Sharma would mull over his decision to start the attack with Hardik Pandya. Pandya conceded 32 runs and the Daredevils got the momentum straightaway.
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