Even Sir Viv, in his advisory capacity for the Delhi Daredevils would not have expected the opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene to do what they did on Sunday evening. His pep talk ensured the Delhi Daredevils destroyed all confidence Mumbai Indians built up when batting first and has helped create an aura around the team, an aura the rest of oppositions will fear henceforth. After eight consecutive defeats stretching back to last season, six this season, Delhi Daredevils finally came good as they destroyed the Mumbai Indians by nine wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.
MI posted 161 on the back of half centuries from Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma but Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene made mockery of the target as they put on a century and half partnership to see DD home comfortably with 18 balls to spare. Chasing a stiff 162 for victory, Sehwag was given an early reprieve as Jasprit Bumrah dropped him on 2 off Munaf Patel. Bumrah's second over was taken apart for 17 runs as Sehwag smashed two boundaries. Sehwag and Jayawardene continued their assault with four boundaries to take 17 more runs from Munaf Patel to bring up the 50 in just the 5th over.
From then the pair were in a punishing mood as they kept the run-rate at 10-an over with Sehwag, back to his belligerent best and the runs just flowed. Jayawardene too played some sensational strokes as DD were at 102 for 0 at the halfway stage, needing just 60 of as many deliveries. Sehwag hit Harbhajan Singh for consecutive boundaries through point in the 13th over. Lasith Malinga provided some respite for MI dismissing Jayawardene (59) but not before he along with Sehwag had put on 151 runs. DD reached the target with Sehwag undefeated on 95, the highest total by an individual this season, eclipsing Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 93 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru. .
Earlier MI won the toss and elected to bat. They started slowly scoring just seven runs in the first three overs before Roelof van der Merwe had Dwayne Smith (7) caught at mid-off. Dinesh Karthik (2) was run out by Umesh Yadav as he got a touch to Tendulkar's straight drive which broke the stumps at the non-striker’s end. MI managed only 24 runs from their power play. Tendulkar then deposited Agit Agarkar over the midwicket fence for the first six in the 7th over. Rohit Sharma continued his good form with massive sixes off Van der Merwe and Andre Russell to set the stadium on fire.
Tendulkar was given a life on 37 when Shahbaz Nadeem did not hold on to a return catch. Sharma then hit two boundaries off Yadav's 13thover. Tendulkar and Sharma put on 96 runs for the third wicket as the MI bandwagon rolled on. Sharma bought up his 17th IPL fifty in the 15thover with a boundary off Irfan Pathan. Yadav finally had Tendulkar (54) caught by David Warner. Sharma (73) continued the assault with two sixes off Agarkar before perishing in the penultimate over. MI finished at 161 for 4 from their 20 overs. Man-of-the-Match: Virender Sehwag Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 161 for 4 (Rohit Sharma 73, Umesh Yadav 2-31) lost to Delhi Daredevils 165 for 1 in 17 overs (Virender Sehwag 95*, Lasith Malinga 1-26) by 9 wickets.
