At home, Mumbai have the momentum
MI (beat KXIP)
What went Wrong: For once, skipper Rohit Sharma wasn’t able to propel the Mumbai score despite having walked in with the openers having laid the perfect platform. Maybe he simply didn’t know how to deal with the new scenario—of having only a handful of overs left for him. He only hit two fours off the 20 balls he faced, and holed out off Johnson’s bowling for 26. But that should only make him hungrier when he’s up against Delhi’s flagging attack.
What went Right: Across the various seasons of the IPL, Parthiv Patel has hardly looked a day older than he did when the T20 jamboree started seven years ago. But he really only came off age with bat in hand on Sunday at Mohali with a free-scoring 36-ball 59, including two sixes off Mitchell Johnson, who tried to bounce him out. Even though it was Lendl Simmons who top-scored for Mumbai with 71, it was the diminutive wicket-keeper who provided the early impetus in their partnership of 111 off just 74 deliveries. Along the way, he also ensured that Mumbai Indians’ opening blues—an issue which is so dated that it’s become passe—finally came to a pass. The Karnataka pairing of Vinay Kumar and young Jagadeesha Suchith then put the squeeze on Punjab’s destructive top-order, to ease their team’s worries about being over-dependent on Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan.
DD (lost to RR)
What Went Right: JP Duminy hit a fifty in a losing cause and Angelo Mathews bowling held up well. Duminy has been among runs and so his performance wasn’t really a surprise but Mathews’ efforts were a shot in the arm for Delhi. He got the ball to seam around on a fresh pitch at Brabourne Stadium and finished with figures of 4-0-27-1. The dismissal of Shane Watson would have pleased him. He was just hooked for a six when he got the ball to cut away from the off-stump line, inducing Watson to have a poke at it. Yuvraj Singh made only 22 but showed signs of revival. He hit a hattrick of boundaries against Dhawal Kulkarni and played some crisp punches off Watson.
What went Wrong: Nearly everything. Even the captain JP Duminy wasn’t impressed with his team. He said he saw a lack of energy in the team on the field. No surprise then that the fielding was atrocious – they left three catches and the ground fielding too was poor. On a surface that had something for the bowlers, Delhi were lacklustre.
Conclusion
Both teams have eight points from nine games but the momentum is with Mumbai. They have strung together a few good games on a row and hold the advantage against Delhi. And it is that part of the season where Mumbai get on to a winning spree, especially at home. And when was the last time you saw Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh together at the Wankhede stadium.
Source:: Indian Express
