NEW DELHI, April 10 (PTI): Lasith Malinga bowled yorkers at will as his deadly five-wicket burst helped Mumbai Indians crush Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here today.
Electing to bat, Daredevils were shot out for a meagre 95 in 17.4 overs. The collapse was a combination of hostile bowling from the Lankan speedster, helped by some poor shot selection by the home team batsmen at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground here.
Mumbai Indians never looked in any sort of hurry as they cruised to the target in 16.5 overs with skipper Sachin Tendulkar scoring an unbeaten 46 (50 balls, 3x4, 1x6).
While Rohit Sharma�s contribution in the 68-run third wicket partnership was an unbeaten 27 (30 balls, 3x4).
The match was supposed to be a fight between Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag but it was the Sri Lankan slinger who emerged as the hero in the end. Malinga�s figures read a stunning 3.4-1-13-5 with four of them being cleaned up unplayable yorkers. It is the third best figure in the IPL after Sohail Tanveer (6/14 for Rajasthan Royals) and Anil Kumble�s (5/5) efforts.
For the capacity crowd at the Kotla, it turned out to be utterly disappointing as five of the Delhi Daredevils batsmen went without troubling the scorers. Malinga�s effort was all the more laudable as Kotla track is considered to be not so conducive for pacers. After Kemar Roach�s hostile spell against the Netherlands in the World Cup, Malinga again showed that raw pace can be intimidating for the lesser known players.
Barring Sehwag, this Delhi Daredevils team doesn�t have good enough players to survive the rigours of top flight Twenty20 and it was proved in the manner they faced the Mumbai Indians bowling.
The Kotla track may be on the slower side but it was inept batting by the Delhi Daredevils top-order that led to their downfall. Sehwag had the crowd roaring when he danced down the track to effortlessly lift Harbhajan Singh over long-off for a six.
Malinga got into the act in the second over as he pegged the home team back with a twin blow in the very second over. The normally dangerous David Warner (1) failed to dig out a toe-crushing yorker from Malinga, while the 17-year-old Unmukt Chand�s IPL debut was a forgettable one as he was out after a couple of deliveries.
The youngster who has never faced anything above medium fast at the domestic level tried to smash a Malinga delivery that was fast and full. Unmukt�s feet were rooted in his crease and the ball cannoned into the middle stump.
SCORECARD
Delhi Daredevils: David Warner b Malinga 1, Virender Sehwag run out 19, Unmukt Chand b Malinga 0, Aaron Finch c Rayudu b Harbhajan 8, Naman Ojha c Malinga b Murtaza 29, Venugopal Rao b Malinga 26, Irfan Pathan run out 0, Roelof van der Merwe not out 8, Morne Morkel b Malinga 0, Umesh Yadav st Jacobs b Harbhajan 0, Ashok Dinda c Franklin b Malinga 0. Extras: (W-4) 4. Total: (all out in 17.4 overs) 95. Fall of wickets: 1/11 2/11 3/27 4/40 5/82 6/82 7/88 8/88 9/90. Bowling: Harbhajan 3-0-14-2, Malinga 3.4-1-13-5, Murtaza 4-0-21-1, Patel 3-0-20-0, Pollard 3-0-18-0, Franklin 1-0-9-0.
Mumbai Indians: Davy Jacobs b Morkel 1, Sachin Tendulkar not out 46, Ambati Rayudu run out 14, Rohit Sharma not out 27. Extras: (B-1, LB-3, W-7) 11. Total: (for 2 wickets in 16.5 overs) 99. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-31. Bowling: Dinda 2-0-7-0, Morkel 4-0-29-1, Pathan 2.5-0-14-0, Yadav 2-0-16-0, van der Merwe 4-0-16-0, Finch 2-0-13-0.
