New Delhi: Kuldeep Yadav’s artistry was well complemented by young leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam’s happy knack of picking wickets before Tilak Varma’s attractive half-century took Mumbai Indians to 205 for 5 in an IPL match in New Delhi Sunday.
Tilak (59 off 33 balls) was the only MI batter to capitalise on a good start, hitting six fours and three sixes and making amends for his poor scores in some of the earlier games. Naman Dheer (38 not out off 17 balls) then used the long handle to prop up the total.
On a track where stroke-making wasn’t very difficult, the two wrist spinners from Uttar Pradesh snared four wickets between them while giving away 64 runs in their eight overs, which could be termed as brilliant considering the conditions.
The two spinners actually decreased the pace of their deliveries, allowing them to slightly grip off the surface and some of the MI batters perished while going for risky shots.
Rohit Sharma’s (18 off 12 balls) wretched IPL form continued as young Vipraj (2/41 in 4 overs) found him plumb in-front with a googly that he missed while trying to go for a slog sweep over the cow-corner. He now has 56 runs from five innings.
For Vipraj, it is some kind of an achievement getting Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in back-to-back games.
Rohit’s opening partner Ryan Rickleton (41 off 25 balls) did show spark but the seasoned Kuldeep (2/23 in 4 overs) seemed to have tied a thread to the white Kookaburra, controlling its length like a yo-yo.
Kuldeep flighted the deliveries, there was late dip and Rickleton perished while trying to play for the turn but it was a flipper that went straight.
In case of Suryakumar Yadav (40 off 27 balls), who had just started looking dangerous, Kuldeep decreased the pace and bowled the googly as the bat face turned for India’s T20 skipper. The result was a simple catch in the deep.
Tilak and Naman then added 62 runs in 5.3 overs to take the team past 200-run mark.
PTI
