Defending champs out of play-offs

MUMBAI: Rishabh Pant’s sixth fifty of the season, followed by three-fers from Sandeep Lamichanne, Amit Mishra and Harshal Patel helped Delhi Daredevils knock defending champions Mumbai Indians out of IPL 2018 with an 11-run win in another final-over finish, at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday(May 20).

Opting to bat first, the hosts overcame a jittery start to post a strong 174/4 on the board before the two wrist spinners - Amit Mishra and Lamichhane - left MI reeling at 78/5, despite an Evin Lewis 48. Hardik Pandya and, later, Ben Cutting, gave Daredevils a mighty scare and kept MI in the hunt till the very end, but the hosts held their nerves better to bowl out MI for 163 with three balls to go.

Absolutely, given thetendency of the Kotla track to slow down as the game progresses. Daredevils have been batting well in the last few games and captain Shreyas Iyer was confident his team could put on a defendable total again for Mumbai to chaseunder the pressure of a must-win clash.

The wicket held up a little better than in DD’s previous home game, against CSK, but Mumbai lost too many wickets in the first half and even Pandya’s and Cutting’s late blitz couldn’t guide them to a win. It wasn’t a start Iyer would have imagined when he opted for his side to bat first. The openers - Prithvi Shaw and Glenn Maxwell - careless, and even as Pant tried to up the ante for the home side, his captain’s wicket pegged them back further.

But then, in-form Pant combined with Vijay Shankar to revive the Daredevils in the middle overs. There were one-handed sixes, the ramp shots over third man that he makes look so easy, and more from the left-handed batsman who notched up his sixth IPL fifty this year as he reclaimed the Orange Cap. His 64-run partnership with Vijay laid the platform for Daredevils’ comeback with the bat. The way Pant was going, DD were looking at 200. But despite losing him in the 17th over, for a 44-ball 64, Vijay’s assumed the role of the aggressor and carried forward the assault. MI managed a couple of controlled overs in the death, but Vijay’s unbeaten 43 still gave Delhi a healthy 174.

Barring Evin Lewis, no batsmen in the top-six could go past 13. And that was down to the fact that Daredevils’ two leggies worked in tandem to cripple MI early on. While Lamichanne picked wickets despite proving a little expensive, Mishra kept a check on the flow of runs. Mumbai had raced away to 57 off their powerplay, courtesy of Lewis’s power-hitting. But Mishra kicked off his spell with the wicket of the off-colour Ishan Kishan off his very first ball of the game. Even as Kieron Pollard was offered a lifeline, Mishra struck in his succeeding over to pick up a more crucial wicket - that of a well-set Lewis who was starting to explode.

Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 174/4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 64, Vijay Shankar 43*; Jasprit Bumrah 1-29) beat Mumbai Indians 163 all out in 19.3 overs (Evin Lewis 48, Ben Cutting 37; Amit Mishra 3-19, Sandeep Lamichhane 3-36, Harshal Patel 3-28) by 11 runs.