Delhi Daredevils beat Mumbai

New Delhi: Leg-spinner Imran Tahir returned a three-wicket haul after skipper Jean-Paul Duminy and Shreyas Iyer’s batting exploits as Delhi Daredevils ended a nine-match losing streak at home with a 37-run win over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.

Chasing 191 for a win, Mumbai faltered against Delhi’s smart catching and great spin force, ably led by Tahir (3-22), to finish at 153 for nine in 20 overs.

Big fifties from Duminy (78 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (83) helped DD reach an imposing score of 190 for four. They then set about dismantling the Mumbai batting with some fine bowling and catching. Skipper Duminy led the way, pulling off a sensational running catch to dismiss opener Lendl Simmons (15) off Domnic Muthuswami. Tahir then took a brilliant catch to send Parthiv Patel (28) back off Angelo Mathews.

Patel, who had hit four fours and a six in his 19-ball blitz, pulled the ball only to see Tahir cover good ground and take a sharp catch in the deep.

The DD bowlers kept chipping in with wickets. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra (2-32) got Delhi boy Unmukt Chand (14) stumped and then sent back Kieron Pollard (10), who mistimed a slice to Shahbaz Nadeem at mid-on.

Captain Rohit Sharma (30) and Ambati Rayudu (30) then tried to get the chase on track, stitching a 49-run fifth wicket partnership. But Nadeem took another neat skier at sweeper cover off Nathan Coulter-Nile to send back dangerman Rohit. Mumbai then slipped dramatically with Tahir striking repeatedly. The South African had Hardik Pandya (0) caught at long-off, before snaring Rayudu, who too was caught in the deep.

Mitchell McClenaghan (0) went next ball as Tahir was on a hat-trick. Malinga prevented the hat-trick but by then the result was a mere formality. It was Delhi’s third win in six games while MI suffered their fifth loss in six matches.

Earlier, DD, put into bat, overcame an early setback  through Iyer and Duminy. New Zealand left-arm pacer McClenaghan (2/38) struck in the very first over to send Mayank Agarwal back. The opener pulled a shortish delivery only to hole out at short mid-wicket, where Rayudu took the



catch.

But after that it was an all DD show with Iyer and Duminy entertaining a good crowd with some fine shots. Mumbai-born Iyer, who hit seven fours and five sixes in his 56-ball stay, and Duminy, whose 50-ball knock was laced with three fours and six sixes, mixed caution and aggression in right measure to frustrate Mumbai.

Iyer was finally cleaned up by Malinga (1-23) in the 17th over, as the right-hander shuffled across to attempt a lap-scoop and the yorker just sneaked in. By then, he had done enough damage to Mumbai’s chances in the game.