For Mumbai, it’s Rohit or no hit so far

The subsequent collapse exemplified the brittleness of their middle-order, and it was left to Harbhajan to save them the blushes.

Mumbai Indians

What went wrong: FOR a major part of IPL history, the Mumbai Indians batting line-up was the envy of the other franchises for its colossal might. This year, though, as we saw on Sunday, their fortunes seem predominantally intertwined with Rohit Sharma’s performance. And once he was dismissed off the second delivery, Mumbai had little chance of getting anywhere close to Kings XI Punjab’s total. The subsequent collapse exemplified the brittleness of their middle-order, and it was left to Harbhajan to save them the blushes. Aaron Finch looked all at sea against the swinging the ball for the second match running, while Ambati Rayudu yet again displayed his discomfort against genuine pace and bounce, being caught behind the wicket to Mitchell Johnson just like he did to Morne Morkel against KKR.

What went right:Punjab had raced to 57/0 in 6 overs when Harbhajan came on to bowl. Not only did he come up trumps in a game of oneupmanship against Virender Sehwag, he also immediately put the brakes on the Kings’ threatening onslaught. He remained intent on bowling slower in the air, and forcing the batsmen to come after him. He then got rid of the well-set Murali Vijay in the bargain. At the other end, 21-year-old Jagadeesha Suchith followed suit, had the left-arm spinners in the commentary box salivating over his art, and for good measure beat Glenn Maxwell in the flight and had him caught in the deep to record his first-ever IPL wicket.

Rajasthan Royals

What went right: They always seem to have an ace up their sleeve. Quite often somebody climbs out of anonymity, like Deepak Hooda did in Delhi. He walked into a scenario where his team needed more than 10-an-over and half the overs gone. By the time he walked off, Hooda had walloped four sixes-one each of Angelo Mathews and Imran Tahir-and made 54 off 25 balls and taken the Royals to the brink of what would be a highly dramatic last-ball win. Ajinkya Rahane too showed glimpses of a return-to-form with a responsible 39-ball 47 to anchor the run-chase.

What went wrong: Their death bowling continues to be a bugbear, like it was last season as well. They were smashed for 48 runs in their last 4 overs, with James Faulkner conceding 55 runs in his four overs-34 off his final two. Despite hitting a boundary to clinch the nail-biter for his team, Tim Southee hasn’t looked at his best with the ball. He’s struggled when the ball hasn’t moved, and has conceded a boundary in almost every over he’s bowled in the IPL so far. Chris Morris took wickets with the new-ball and was economical too, but went for 16 in his last over.

Conclusion

Mumbai will depend once again on Rohit, not only to give them a start but also bat for a sizable chunk of their 20-over quota. He was defeated by the penetrative swing of Sandeep Sharma, and will have to contend with Southee, who too will wobble it around, in Ahmedabad. Harbhajan and Suchith will have their task cut-out against Rahane, Steve Smith and Karun Nair, all of whom are comfortable against spin bowlers and thrive on taking them apart.

Middle-order wickets though will be crucial. Like Hooda showed in the last game, no team can relax while playing Rajasthan for you never know when there’s a Royal waiting to put his hand for a star-show. In Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard, Mumbai have the perfect armory to expose their opponents’ death-bowling woes and neutralize the many plusses Rajasthan have over them. But it will again depend on Rohit coming to the party.

Source:: Indian Express