Mumbai Indians crush Delhi Daredevils by 146 runs to register biggest ever win in IPL history

Mumbai Indians crushed Delhi Daredevils by 146 runs on Saturday at the Feroz Shah Kota Stadium, to register the biggest ever victory in the history of the Indian Premier League. Mumbai piled on a massive 212 runs after being out in to bat, powered by blistering half-centuries from the West Indian duo of Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard. In response, Delhi slumped to 66 all out in under 14 overs in one of the most one-sided games of IPL 10. With this clinical win, Mumbai also became the first team to qualify for the playoffs, topping the points table with 18 points.

Here are the turning points of the relatively short match.

Simmons’ sensational knock after slow start

It’s hard to imagine that a team that went on to make 212 started slow, but Mumbai Indians were initially tied down by the twin attacks of Zaheer Khan and Kagiso Rabada – a new ball combination to watch out for. Returning from injury, Zaheer gave away only three runs in the first over and eight in the third, while Rabada conceded seven in the second even as Simmons was struggling for timing.

But one massive six changed that all, and Simmons started his sensational innings. Replacing Jos Buttler at the top of the order, the West Indian made the most of his first chance in this IPL to get Mumbai off to a flier. By the end of the Powerplay, Mumbai were 60 for no loss with Rabada and Cummins being taken to the cleaners. By the end of the 10, Mumbai had amassed 84 and were well on their way to a mammoth total.

Interestingly, Simmons has always done well for Mumbai in the IPL in the limited chances he has got. As Cricinfo pointed out, he averaged (before this match) 47.10 which is the highest among 89 batsmen with more than 500 runs. He has crossed fifty 10 times in 22 innings for Mumbai and shared opening stands of more than fifty 10 times as well. Why would Mumbai keep him on the bench, is anyone’s guess.

On Saturday, Simmons clobbered all the bowlers all over the park. When he eventually was dismissed after a 43-ball 66, miscuing a Corey Anderson short ball to Marlon Samuels, he had given Mumbai a platform to go big.

Pollard continues the onslaught

Kieron Pollard walked in at No 3 for only the third time in IPL, after Amit Mishra slowed the pace of runs and got Parthiv Patel (25 off 22) stumped in the ninth over courtesy a superb googly. And the burly West Indian continued the slaughter started by Simmons, finishing with a ruthless unbeaten 35-ball 63 which showed his “range”.

It was a feast of boundaries, not deterred by the fall of either Simmons or captain Rohit Sharma. A simple touch, a mishit, a bottom-of-the-bat stroke, all reached over the fence. He struck four massive sixes in his knock, spoiling Mishra’s figures by hammering him for four sixes, with the last one landing on the third tier of Kotla. The decision to send Pollard ahead of Nitish Rana worked wonderfully for Mumbai as he demolished the Delhi attack, staying till the end, unleashing another wave of big-hitting with Hardik Pandya.

Pollard and Pandya put together an unbeaten partnership of 59 in only 27 balls, with the Indian smacking an explosive 14-ball 29 with three sixes and a four. The Pollard-Pandya partnership was the final nail for Delhi.

Delhi’s bowling woes continue

While the Mumbai batsmen made merry on the small boundary, the Delhi bowlers didn’t do much to stop them. For the second match in a row, Delhi conceded over 200 while bowling first. But this time, there was no miracle chase as they failed to reach even half of the target.

Ironically, Zaheer, who was returning from injury, had the best economy of the lot at 7.25. All the bowlers were taken to task by the two West Indians. Pat Cummins felt the heat in his very first over, conceding 19 runs with 16 of them coming in boundaries. He was in for more punishment in the final over of the innings with Pandya smacking for couple of sixes and a cracking four. The final over went for 23 and Cummins ended with forgettable figures of 4/59.

Against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last game, Rabada conceded 59, and Cummins followed suit against Mumbai. Against Sunrisers in the last game, Rabada conceded 59, and Cummins followed suit against Mumbai. For a team lead by one of India’s most experienced bowlers, these are sorry figures.

Delhi lose 5 wickets in 6 overs

Delhi’s chase started on the worst possible note with a wicket off the first ball as Delhi’s highest run-getter this season, Sanju Samson, holed Mitch McLenaghan to the deep and it found Simmons. That was an indication of what to come, as the procession of Delhi wickets began – one almost every over.

Shreyas Iyer (3 off 6), who came in at No 3, was the next to depart, miscuing a short ball from Lasith Malina in the second over. The third over passed by without any wicket, but the fourth saw last match’s hero Rishabh Pant get a duck this time. Pant tried to pull Jasprit Bumrah but found Simmons’ safe hands instead and had to walk back on a third-ball duck.

Karun Nair, Delhi’s top scorer with 21 off 15 balls, fell in the fifth over and that all but sealed it. Harbhajan Singh varied his length and the batsman fell for it, leaving Delhi 31/4. But the writing was on the wall when Anderson mishit Malinga to deep mid-wicket in the sixth over on only 10. At the end of the Powerplay, Delhi were 35/5 and it was a question of when rather than if.

Biggest win margin in IPL history

Delhi kept losing wickets after that and their innings eventually folded for a 66 in 13.4 overs. This was one short of their previous worst – when they were dismissed for 67 against the Kings XI Punjab a week back.

Mumbai spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Karn Sharma grabbed three wickets a piece and finished the Delhi resistance even before it could be started, by dismissing Samuels, Cummins and Rabada in three consecutive overs. The last wicket pair of Mishra and Zaheer then held out for three whole overs – the longest in Delhi’s innings – before the captain lofted one to long on and thus finished the match that gave us the record for the biggest victory margin in IPL.