Mumbai batting disappoints, lose to Delhi

A flurry of wickets early on, after losing the toss on a wicket that was slow and difficult to bat, Mumbai Indians managed a mere 92 runs batting first against Delhi Daredevils at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday night.

The hosts rested Lasith Malinga, James Franklin and T Suman going into the game, and with Sachin Tendulkar still not back from his finger injury, the onus lay on the rest to share the responsibility. That responsibility alone seemed missing in Mumbai’s batting line-up as Delhi Daredevils bowlers, led by an impressive Umesh Yadav and ably assisted by Irfan Pathan and Morne Morkel, kept the Mumbai top and middle-order in distress throughout.

In reply, the Daredevils reached the target with 5.1 overs and seven wickets to spare.

Delhi chased an easy-looking 93 for victory and reached it with considerable ease. This was a new-look Delhi team, with Ross Taylor joining the middle-order, Mahela Jayawardene playing only his second match, Kevin Pietersen making his intent known in the tournament already and Sehwag having a variety of men in the line-up to bank on.

Mumbai Indians did bowl well in the game and had there been another 20 or 25 runs extra in their total, the story may have been different. Considering that Malinga and Franklin had been rested, Munaf Patel and RP Singh handled the responsibility well. The target was too low for any attack to prosper on.

The Delhi batting order does look intimidating now, as much as their bowling does. From being a team that struggled to resurrect its middle order last season, they now look like a side that can boast of one of the best line-ups. Sehwag looks in touch, there’s Pietersen to follow, Jayawardene around now and Taylor back from injury.

The Wankhede was a sellout yet again and it seems IPL has its own place in the heart of Mumbai cricket fans. The crowds will certainly expect Mumbai to pull up their socks in the coming game.