Krunal Pandya keeps Mumbai Indians' hopes alive, Delhi Daredevils lose big

  Visakhapatnam: Krunal Pandya bludgeoned a 37-ball 86 in his maiden IPL fifty before bowlers took charge as Mumbai Indians pounded Delhi Daredevils by a comprehensive 80-run margin to jump to third spot, here on Sunday. 25-year-old Pandya combined well with opener Martin Guptill (48) to rattle up a fiery 98-run stand that propelled Mumbai Indians to a commanding 206 for four. Mumbai lost Rohit Sharma (31) after a steady start but Pandya and Guptill came up with very aggressive knocks that blew away the rival attack. Pandya threw his bat at everything and anything but at the same time showed tremendous control, finding the boundaries with consummate ease. The left-hander hammered half-a-dozen sixes and seven fours in his knock before being bowled by Chris Morris in the fag end of the innings. Guptill took 42 balls for his innings that had two fours and three shots over the ropes. South African spinner Imran Tahir ended up bleeding 59 runs in his four wicket-less overs while skipper Zaheer Khan was the most economical with 23 runs in his four overs. Mumbai bowlers then dished out a commanding show by bowling out Dardevils for 126 in 19.1 overs. Daredevils struggled to have partnerships as they kept losing batsmen. Mayank Agarwal (8) was first to go when he was bowled by Vinay Kumar. Karun Nair (8) was dismissed by Harbhajan Singh while Sanju Samson (6) was run out. Quinton-de Kock was batting well from the one end but his innings was brought to a halt when umpire ruled him out caught behind off Krunal. The chasing task was left to JP Duminy and young Rishanh Pant but Jasprit Bumrah dismissed them in consecutive balls to leave Daredevils gasping at 96 for six in 13 overs. Duminy attempted a big shot, managed an edge that flew high in the sky and Buttler made no mistake in taking the catch. Pant found his timber disturbed in the next ball. Daredevils needed 111 runs off the last seven overs but the innings folded soon. Their hopes were over when Morris (20) was run out in the 17th over. Paceman Jasprit Bumrah emerged the best bowler for Mumbai with figures of 3-0-13-3 while Krunal (2/15) took two wickets. Mumbai have 14 points with one game to play against fourth-placed Gujarat Lions. Earlier, after Rohit's fall, Daredevils spin trio – Amit Mishra, Tahir and Shahbaz Nadeem -- looked like making an impact but Guptil and Pandya ripped apart the attack. After finding their eye in, they started to punish the bowlers with ease and the spin trio collectively leaked 143 runs in their 12 overs. Guptill brought the team's hundred with a long-on six off Tahir and followed it with an inside out maximum. Tahir had bowled well in tandem with Mishra but the Mumbai Indians batsmen were in good control. They were beaten a few times but struck very powerfully to find boundaries to make up for the dot balls. Krunal joined the Tahir-bashing by striking a straight six and a four to cream off 23 runs in the 13th over. Pandya reached his fifty with a fluent six over mid-wicket off Nadeem and celebrated the milestone with a jump in the air and gestures towards the dug out. Skipper Zaheer introduced himself to attack to stop the rut and he succeeded by sending back the Kiwi batsman, who could not connect the full toss and Karun Nair took the catch. It brought big-hitting Kieron Pollard to the crease but it was Pandya who continued to torment the bowlers. He launched leg-spinner Mishra for a four and two sixes but was cleaned up by Chris Morris, who also sent back Pollard (3) in the same over. Jos Buttler (18) ended the innings in style with a long-on six off Morris.

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Brief Scores Mumbai Indians: 206 for 4 in 20 overs (Krunal Pandya 86, Martin Guptill 48; Chris Morris 2/34). Delhi Daredevils: 126 all out in 19.1 overs. (Q de Kock 40, C R pant 23, Morris 20; J Bumrah 3/13). Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils by 80 runs.