Clinical Mumbai book final berth with convincing victory over lacklustre Delhi

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

A ruthless bowling show by Trent Boult (2-9) and Jasprit Bumrah (4-14) helped Mumbai Indians (MI) rout a lacklustre Delhi Capitals (DC) by 57 runs in the first qualifier to book a berth in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Dubai on Thursday.

After posting a mammoth total of 200/5, Mumbai restricted Delhi to 143/8. Despite the loss, Delhi still have chance as they will face the winner of the eliminator in the second qualifier for a place in the finals.

Chasing, Delhi got off to a horrible start. They lost three wickets with zero runs on the board. New Zealand pacer Boult bowled a scintillating spell, giving a dream start to Mumbai.

He ripped through the top order as three batsmen could not even open their account.  Boult triggered the slide by getting Prithvi Shaw caught by Quinton De Kock. He trapped Ajinkya Rahane to make it 0-2. Bumrah rattled the stumps of Shikhar Dhawan, reducing Delhi to 0-3.

Bumrah got rid of Rohit Sharma to leave Delhi tottering at 20-4. Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel added 71 runs for the sixth wicket to take the score past 100. In his second spell, Bumrah uprooted the stumps of Stoinis and sent back Daniel Sam to complete his four-wicket haul and end Dehli’s hopes.

Earlier, after a disappointing performance by the big names, the onus of taking the score to a fighting total fell on the young guns. After the failure of star batsmen like Rohit, who has returned to the fold only in the last match after an injury lay-off, and Kieron Pollard much was left to do for the youngsters.

Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya all lived up to the challenge and delivered when it mattered the most. They once again showed how they have matured as cricketers and carried the whole innings on their young shoulders.

After reducing Mumbai to 140/5 in 16 overs, Delhi looked set to restrict them to 180. It was Delhi, who dominated the innings for the most part. Every time Mumbai batsmen tried to break free they were pegged down by a wicket or two.

Mumbai got off to a stuttering start as Delhi’s ploy of bringing Ashwin into the attack in the second over yielded the result. The wily off-spinner got rid of Rohit Sharma for a golden duck. Sharma has scored 4 and 0 in two innings since his return from injury.

De Kock continued his good form with the bat and scored a 25-ball 40. He also shared a 62-run partnership with Yadav for the second wicket to steady the ship. De Kock holed out to Dhawan as Ashwin got his second scalp.

Yadav played sensibly and brought up his fourth fifty of the season with a boundary off Nortje in the 12th over. When Mumbai looked set for a big total, Delhi struck in quick succession to reduce them from 99-2 to 101-4 within a span of three deliveries.

Nortje had Yadav caught by Sam while Ashwin got rid of dangerman Pollard. He trapped the big-hitting West Indian for nought.

But Kishan and Krunal Pandya put up 39 runs for the fifth wicket and took the score to 140/5. Stoinis got rid of Krunal which brought his brother Hardik to the middle. Hardik and Kishan plundered 55 runs in the last three overs to propel Mumbai to a mammoth total of 200/5.

Both the batsmen lighted up Dubai Stadium with a spectacular firework display. They threw away everything towards the boundary role that was hurled at them.

Kishan smashed an unbeaten 30-ball 55 while Hardik scored a quick-fire 37 off 14 deliveries. They put on 60 runs for the sixth wicket in just 3.5 overs.