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Dubai - The Delhi Daredevils came out on top in the battle at the bottom as they beat the Mumbai Indians by six wickets with seven balls to spare in their IPL clash at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday.
Another abject batting display from the defending champions meant they were only able to muster a score of 125 for six in the face of some disciplined Delhi bowling.
Left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the bowlers as he returned figures of two for 18, while only Kieron Pollard's unbeaten 33 from 30 balls represented a contribution of any substance for Mumbai.
Delhi then paced themselves in response, with Murali Vijay's 34-ball innings of 40 setting them up nicely. Drama threatened to ensue when Lasith Malinga (4-0-17-2) struck twice in the 16th over, but Kevin Pietersen kept a cool head, finishing unbeaten on 26 to comfortably take his side home.
A second win of the campaign sees the Daredevils move up to sixth in the standings, while the winless Indians remain rooted to the bottom and in desperate need of some improvement in the batting department.
Captain Rohit Sharma had earlier won the toss and elected to bat first, and replaced Mike Hussey (10) at the top of the under-performing batting order. However, the skipper got his team off to the worst possible start, as he called for a suicidal single in the second over and was brilliantly run out by bowler Mohammed Shami (4-0-36-0) for four.
Quinton de Kock then pulled off two fine catches on the mid-wicket boundary to account for Aditya Tare (8) and the dangerous Corey Anderson (13), and at that stage Mumbai were already in trouble at 39 for three in the seventh over.
Delhi's bowlers continued to apply the stranglehold, and Ambati Rayudu (14) was put out of his misery as he became the third player to hole out on the boundary, and when Hussey was castled by Unadkat at the end of the 14th over, the Indians had limped to 63 for five.
Pollard and Chidhambaram Gautam (22) combined for a useful 29-ball stand of 40, but it came to an end when Pollard ran his partner out with a poor call for a second run in the penultimate over.
The West Indian made something of amends with some big hits in the deliveries that followed, and Harbhajan Singh (10 not out) also cleared the ropes in the final over to give the innings some late impetus, but it was the Daredevils who undoubtedly departed the pitch the happier of the two sides at the halfway mark.
The Delhi response was measured from the start, as openers De Kock (16) and Vijay took the score to 31 without loss at the end of the powerplay. The South African was then brilliantly caught by Hussey at point, but Vijay clicked into gear, culminating in a massive blow over the square-leg boundary in the 11th over.
However, Vijay was guilty of getting carried away, and an ugly attempted slog resulted in his off stump being pegged back by Sharma (2-0-20-2) to leave Delhi at 79 for two in the 13th over.
But Pietersen strode to the wicket with his usual swagger, and two overs later dispatched the Mumbai skipper for two fours and a six, and at that stage they required just 23 from 30 deliveries.
There was to be a late twist, as Malinga produced a double strike in the 16th over to get rid of JP Duminy (19) and Dinesh Karthik (2). But it proved to be too little, too late, and Pietersen, along with Kedar Jadhav (14 not out), calmly steered his side home with more than an over to spare.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: Q de Kock, M Vijay, KP Pietersen (capt), KD Karthik (wk), JP Duminy, KM Jadhav, LR Shukla, WD Parnell, S Nadeem, Mohammed Shami, JD Unadkat
MUMBAI INDIANS: MEK Hussey, AP Tare, CJ Anderson, RG Sharma (capt), KA Pollard, AT Rayudu, CM Gautam (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, PP Ojha, SL Malinga
Another abject batting display from the defending champions meant they were only able to muster a score of 125 for six in the face of some disciplined Delhi bowling.
Left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the bowlers as he returned figures of two for 18, while only Kieron Pollard's unbeaten 33 from 30 balls represented a contribution of any substance for Mumbai.
Delhi then paced themselves in response, with Murali Vijay's 34-ball innings of 40 setting them up nicely. Drama threatened to ensue when Lasith Malinga (4-0-17-2) struck twice in the 16th over, but Kevin Pietersen kept a cool head, finishing unbeaten on 26 to comfortably take his side home.
A second win of the campaign sees the Daredevils move up to sixth in the standings, while the winless Indians remain rooted to the bottom and in desperate need of some improvement in the batting department.
Captain Rohit Sharma had earlier won the toss and elected to bat first, and replaced Mike Hussey (10) at the top of the under-performing batting order. However, the skipper got his team off to the worst possible start, as he called for a suicidal single in the second over and was brilliantly run out by bowler Mohammed Shami (4-0-36-0) for four.
Quinton de Kock then pulled off two fine catches on the mid-wicket boundary to account for Aditya Tare (8) and the dangerous Corey Anderson (13), and at that stage Mumbai were already in trouble at 39 for three in the seventh over.
Delhi's bowlers continued to apply the stranglehold, and Ambati Rayudu (14) was put out of his misery as he became the third player to hole out on the boundary, and when Hussey was castled by Unadkat at the end of the 14th over, the Indians had limped to 63 for five.
Pollard and Chidhambaram Gautam (22) combined for a useful 29-ball stand of 40, but it came to an end when Pollard ran his partner out with a poor call for a second run in the penultimate over.
The West Indian made something of amends with some big hits in the deliveries that followed, and Harbhajan Singh (10 not out) also cleared the ropes in the final over to give the innings some late impetus, but it was the Daredevils who undoubtedly departed the pitch the happier of the two sides at the halfway mark.
The Delhi response was measured from the start, as openers De Kock (16) and Vijay took the score to 31 without loss at the end of the powerplay. The South African was then brilliantly caught by Hussey at point, but Vijay clicked into gear, culminating in a massive blow over the square-leg boundary in the 11th over.
However, Vijay was guilty of getting carried away, and an ugly attempted slog resulted in his off stump being pegged back by Sharma (2-0-20-2) to leave Delhi at 79 for two in the 13th over.
But Pietersen strode to the wicket with his usual swagger, and two overs later dispatched the Mumbai skipper for two fours and a six, and at that stage they required just 23 from 30 deliveries.
There was to be a late twist, as Malinga produced a double strike in the 16th over to get rid of JP Duminy (19) and Dinesh Karthik (2). But it proved to be too little, too late, and Pietersen, along with Kedar Jadhav (14 not out), calmly steered his side home with more than an over to spare.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: Q de Kock, M Vijay, KP Pietersen (capt), KD Karthik (wk), JP Duminy, KM Jadhav, LR Shukla, WD Parnell, S Nadeem, Mohammed Shami, JD Unadkat
MUMBAI INDIANS: MEK Hussey, AP Tare, CJ Anderson, RG Sharma (capt), KA Pollard, AT Rayudu, CM Gautam (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, PP Ojha, SL Malinga
