New Delhi, Apr 22: Maybe Virender Sehwag heard about Sunil Gavaskar rating Viv Richards higher than him on TV, or maybe he just wanted to impress Delhi's new advisor from the Caribbean.Whatever the spur, Sehwag with unbeaten 95 off only 57 (13x4, 2x6) finally found his timing and his style, breaking his team's run of six consecutive losses with a numbing display of power-hitting that left Mumbai Indians reeling.
The Devils, forever dependent on Sehwag's heroics, won't be complaining of the nine-wicket win, chasing Mumbai's 161, with three overs left to play. Though both sides made similar changes in desperation, dropping their lead pacer and changing the under-firing opening combine, it was only Delhi's moves which paid off in spades.
Mahela Jayawardene (59; 43b, 8x4, 1x6) came out to open in place of David Warner and his solidity seemed to rub off on Sehwag, who chose to actually watch a few deliveries before deciding enough was enough. Of course, he had his slice of luck too, being dropped by Jasprit Bumrah at fine leg off a furious Munaf in the third over when he hadn't even hit a boundary.
Viru promptly got going with a fierce pull but it was in the next over, bowled by the unorthodox Bumrah - who pitched it up and offered width - when Sehwag got the Kotla chanting his name. A four over cover and a six over long-on was followed by Jayawardene finishing things off with a four as the over yielded 17. Delhi didn't look back.
Munaf, brought in for Ojha, targetted leg stump and went for three boundaries next, and after five overs Delhi were 51 without loss, and by 9.4 overs the 100 had come up. Even Malinga seemed ineffective as Viru peppered the backward point and square-leg fence, and Mumbai were left pining away for the left-arm pace of Mitchell Johnson, who made way for Dwayne Smith to effect changes at the top of the order.
As early as the 12th over, Viru and Mahela were laughing and backslapping each other in the middle as a morose Mumbai looked on, bereft of ideas and choices. In a sign of their complete dominance, Delhi needed just 29 off the last six and though the 151-run opening partnership (97b) was eventually broken by Malinga, it had little effect on the result. Incidentally, last season Sehwag and Jayawardene had put on 135 for the first wicket at the Kotla against the same team. It was obviously a trick worth repeating.
Mumbai got to the total they did thanks to a sometimes-sublime, often-ugly but always effective Rohit Sharma (73 off 43 balls; 5x4, 5x6) and his 96-run third-wicket partnership off 67 balls with Sachin Tendulkar (54 off 47; 5x4, 2x6), who finally came good.
Pathan pitches it right
Irfan Pathan has been one of the few positives for Delhi in a dismal campaign so far. His first spells have been very frugal. On Sunday, his first three overs produced 11 dot balls.
First choice for the last ball
Kieron Pollard is one batsman who can hit a six at will. But when it comes to the last ball of the innings he is even more dangerous. Sunday was the sixth instance when Pollard hit the last ball for a six.
Powerless in powerplay
Barring the game against Pune Warriors, Mumbai Indians have had trouble at the start and have lacked momentum. On Sunday, they were slow again scoring 24 for 2 in six overs. It's the lowest start this season.
A delayed ton
Very rarely does Sachin Tendulkar get beaten to accumulating 100 runs by other batsmen. In this T20 league, 23 players reached the 100-run mark before him.
Miller, Mandeep achieve mission impossible for Kings XI Punjab
Mohali, Apr 22: Kings XI Punjab showed rare resilience on Sunday night when they overcame an impossible-looking 185 set by visiting Pune Warriors.
After the home team's bowling was battered back and blue, their batsmen struck back in a grand manner to record a win that once looked so unlikely at the halfway stage.
Faced with a huge target to get at over nine runs an over, and the experienced Adam Gilchrist (3) and Azhar Mahmood (0) departed early, local lad Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra set about resurrecting the innings.
In a brilliant run-chase, the duo not only repaired the damage but also set the stage for David Miller to launch an all-out assault on Pune's bowling and overhaul the target with one ball and seven wickets to spare.
Mandeep (77 n.o) and David Miller (80 n.o) scored superlative half centuries and the highest successful run-chase of this edition looked all the more sweet when the latter struck two sixes in the final Luke Wright over when 16 were needed for a famous win.
But it was a forgettable outing for KXIP skipper Gilchrist, who first dropped his counterpart Aaron Finch when the batsman was on one but went on to score 64. Then Gilly lasted just three deliveries when his team were up against a formidable chase.
Buoyed by Gilchirst's reprieve, Victorian Finch showed his prowess, as he struck his third half-century and along with Robin Uthappa gave the Pune side a solid start of 83 runs in just 10.3 overs.
The subsequent batsmen, local boy Yuvraj Singh, Steven Smith and hard-hitting Luke Wright, contributed as Pune recorded their highest total against KXIP. Wright was especially destructive as he smashed 34 off just 10 deliveries.
As the Pune batsmen went hammer and tongs, the home team's fielding fell apart and they conceded quite a few boundaries through misfields. But Mandeep, Vohra and Miller had planned a different party of their own.
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