New Delhi: Wooden spooners Delhi Daredevils (DD) knocked defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) out of the IPL-XI after the trio of Amit Mishra (3/19), Sandeep Lamichhane (3/36) and Harshal Patel (3/28) starred with three wickets apiece for a 11-run win in their last league match here, Sunday.
Chasing a challenging target of 175, Mumbai Indians crumbled against quality leg-spin bowling by Mishra, Nepal spin sensation Lamichhane and medium pace of Patel.
The visitors lost three wickets – Evin Lewis (48, 31b, 3×4, 4×6), Kieron Pollard (seven) and Krunal Pandya (four) in five balls at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Hardik Pandya (27) and skipper Rohit Sharma (13) added 43 runs before they were sent back as Mumbai slipped to 122 for seven in 14.5 overs. However, Ben Cutting (37, 20b, 2×4, 3×6) tried his hand with a blitz before MI were dismissed for 163 with three balls to spare.
Earlier, Rishab Pant (64, 44b, 4×4, 4×6) continued his purple patch, hitting his fifth half century of the season, to guide Delhi to a competitive score. The 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman shared a 64-run fourth wicket stand off 47 balls with Vijay Shankar (43 n o, 30b, 3×4, 2×6), after DD were reduced to 75/3 in nine overs, to lay the foundation.
Lamichhane then rocked Mumbai’s chase early, removing the in-form Suryakumar Yadav (12) cheaply. However, Lewis got into the act with some power-hitting as MI zoomed to 50 for one in five overs.
Ishan Kishan (five) was then dismissed off Mishra before the veteran spinner dismissed Lewis with a googly. Krunal Pandya was next to go as MI came down to 79/5 in 9.4 overs. However, Hardik and Rohit raised some hope of a win but the duo got out in quick succession. Then Cutting hit some lusty blows before Patel took two wickets in the final over to earn the win for DD.
Brief scores: DD 174/4 (Rishabh Pant 64, Vijay Shankar 43 n o; Krunal Pandya 1/11) bt MI 163 in 19.3 overs (Evin Lewis 48, Ben Cutting 37; Amit Mishra 3/19, Harshal Patel 3/28) by 11 runs.
