Mumbai successfully defend 142 as Delhi top order come a cropper

Photo: BCCI New Delhi: Delhi Daredevils suffered a sensational collapse at the start of their innings as Mumbai Indians thumped them by 14 runs to solidify their position at the top of the table in an IPL match in Mumbai. Chasing a paltry target of 143, Delhi lost their top six for 24 as Mitchell McClenaghan ran havoc. If it wasn’t for a brilliant seventh wicket partnership of 91 runs between Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabadda which kept the visitors’ hopes alive till the last over, Delhi would have slumped to a humiliating defeat. Morris and Rabadda’s heroics managed to drag Delhi to 128 for 7 but it was not enough to get them over the line. Morris (52*) and Rabadda (44) both registered Daredevils’ record for highest scores at No. 8 and No. 7 respectively. But the damage was done at the top order. There was no platform which these could have built on. Mitchell McClaneghan revived himself after going the distance for last couple of matches by delivering a stunning performance. He broke the back bone of the Delhi batting line up by removing Samson (9), Iyer (6) and Anderson (0) cheaply. The New Zealand quick picked up 3 wickets for 24 runs in his 4 overs. It all began with a suicidal run out of local boy Aditya Tare, who went back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. The top six of Delhi then fell like a house of cards before Morris and Rabadda joined hands. When the duo looked to take the match into an even steven scenario, Jasprit Bumrah bowled couple of brilliant overs towards the death and cleaned up Rabadda for 44 in the penultimate over, dashing all hopes of a miracle. The Indian death overs specialist returned with match figures of 2 for 21. Almost all the Mumbai bowlers were on their money and the absence of Malinga was not felt at all. Earlier, sent in to bat Mumbai Indians struggled their way to reach 142 for 8 in front a disciplined Delhi bowling attack led by leggie Amit Mishra who picked up 2 for 18 in his 4 overs. For Mumbai, Buttler (28), Pollard (26) and Pandya (24) played useful knocks. The Mumbai Indians have now registered their sixth consecutive win in the IPL.