Despite losing Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar early, Mumbai Indians rode on the superb knocks of Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma to set an imposing total of 209 and later restricted Delhi Daredevils at 165 to register their second win of the season by defeating Delhi Daredevils comprehensively by 44 runs at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday.

Here we bring before you the heroes and zeroes from the match.

HITS

Dinesh Karthik: This pocket-sized dynamo has played some sensible cricket till now and against Delhi Daredevils he was at his best. He scored 86 runs in just 48 balls and played a pivotal role in taking Mumbai Indians past 200 run mark. He has been the hot property in this season and looks in great form to contribute more for his team in the upcoming fixtures.

Rohit Sharma: Sharma too found form in this match and played a superb knock of 74 runs off 50 balls. He scored four fours and five sixes. The best part of his innings was when he smashed Ashish Nehra for three mind-boggling sixes in the final over of the innings.

Lasith Malinga: Slinging bowler is back in town and he made his comeback in his usual way by giving away just 20 runs in his quota of four overs and picking up one wicket. Malinga bowled exceedingly well especially when his teammates were going for more than 12 runs per over. His four overs ensured Mumbai an upper hand. He will now play a key role to keep this winning momentum going for Mumbai Indians.

David Warner: Warner continued his good run with the bat as he smashed 61 runs off just 37 balls. He kept the Daredevils in hunt of chasing down the humongous total of 210. He kept going for those big sixes to keep the pressure on Mumbai Indians bowling. He needs a support from just two or three batsmen in his team as he has enough firepower with him to turn the odds in his favour.

Manprit Juneja: Juneja scored 49 off 40 balls and hit six crispy boundaries down the ground. He forged in a partnership with Warner for the third wicket and played till the end of the innings. This inning will surely help him in exploring his way to make himself much more accountable in the upcoming matches of Indian Premier League.

FLOPS

Ricky Ponting: “Punter” is having a good time leading the side but he is not looking good enough to score those big runs which are expected from him. He got out in the first over for a duck when he tried to clear the mid-off after coming down the track but struck it straight to the fielder. His form has been creating a lot of pressure in the middle-order.

Sachin Tendulkar: Master got run-out for the second time in the three games that he had played this season so far, though, it was an excellent throw from Mahela Jayawardene who was standing at the mid-off. Mumbai were left in all sorts of trouble they were two wickets down for just one run.

Mahela Jayawardene: Mahela, who was under some serious pressure after losing the first two games, got out very early in the innings and left his side in lurch. He scored just three runs. Player of his stature who knew that he is not having a quality batting line-up to chase that mammoth total of 210 runs, should have played the waiting game for some time before going for those lofted shots. Delhi want him to fire in every match otherwise it is the beginning of their end in this edition of Indian Premier League.

Ashish Nehra: Nehra ended up picking two wickets but by that time the damage had already been done. In his last over he was smacked brutally for those three huge sixes which made a significant difference during the run chase. Being an experienced cricketer, he was expected to bowl some tight overs towarsd the end. This might prompt Mahela to use Ajit Agarkar as he is good bat as well.

Irfan Pathan: Pathan has been the biggest cause of worry for Delhi Daredevils because of his poor all-round skills. Though he was good in his first two overs and gave just four runs, but in the next two overs he went for 33 runs which created a lot of pressure on the other bowlers. His stint with the bat wasn’t of much use as he added just 10 runs to the team’s total. It’s a difficult decision to drop him but it is even more difficult to get the good performance out of him.

By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network