Delhi play spoilsport for Mumbai Indians

New Delhi: Mumbai Indians' play-off qualification chances were dealt a final blow after they lost to Delhi Daredevils by 11 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Sunday. Playing for pride, Delhi gave an above-par target of 175 to the traveling side to chase. Chasing the target Mumbai were all out for 163 in 19.3 overs.

Ben Cutting made a last-gasp 19-ball 37 effort for the away side.

Earlier, Opener Suryakumar Yadav went after Sandeep Lamichhane from the word go. The swashbuckling Mumbaikar shot the Nepali spinner for a maximum and a four from the first two deliveries but departed a ball later after mistiming a googly in the palms of Shankar at long-on.

The early fall of wicket hardly made any impact as Evin Lewis continued the blitzkrieg for the away side. The Caribbean took Mumbai to 57 by the end of the powerplay. First down Ishan Kishan (5 off 13), who played a silent partner in a 45-run stand, fell to Amit Mishra at the beginning of the seventh over. The left-hander failed to clear a lofted delivery and gave an easy catch to Shankar at long-on.

Promoted at no 4, Keiron Pollard was dropped twice – at 0 and 3 – by Prithvi Shaw and Liam Plunkett respectively. Lewis kept his composure from the other end and went after the Delhi bowlers. However, the southpaw couldn't reach his well-deserved fifty after he was stumped by Pant off Mishra on 48 (off 31 balls)

Lewis's departure triggered a middle-order collapse as Pollard and Krunal Pandya fell in space of four deliveries to Lamichhane. Pollard was the first to go after Maxwell caught a blinder on the boundary and threw it to Boult to before going outside the field. Krunal fell for a soft dismissal to substitute fielder Rahul Tewatia on short mid-on.

The last recognised pair of skipper Sharma and Hardik struck a crucial 43-run stand brought Mumbai Indians back in the game. But another Pollard-like dismissal, which saw Maxwell repeating his effort on the boundary, meant Sharma had to go back to the dug-out at 13 (off 11 balls).

A run later, Mishra dealt the killer blow by taking the scalp of dangerous Hardik (27 off 17 balls).

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Delhi Daredevils' Shreyas Iyer made one change in the line-up by dropping pacer Avesh Khan for Liam Plunkett. Mumbai's Rohit Sharma replaced injured Mitchell McClenaghan with Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman.

Iyer sprang another surprise as he asked Glenn Maxwell to open for the first time in the tournament, along with regular opener Prithvi Shaw. The plan seemed to work brightly for the home side as they race to runs in the first three overs. But the partnership came to an abrupt end after Hardik Pandya dislodged the stump through a direct hit from the point to non-striker end, where Shaw (12 runs off 8balls) was caught strolling in the park.

Maxwell (22 off 18) followed eight runs later. Struggling with his form, Aussie was clean bowled by an in-swinging delivery by Jaspreet Bumrah.

Delhi was once again in a familiar situation where the onus once again fell to the likes of Rishabh Pant and 23-year-old skipper to build Delhi innings after another top-order failure. The duo forged a 37-run stand to keep the score ticking at a good rate. Pant did most of the damage as he went past 30 in no time, while Iyer held the innings from one end.

However, the dangerous-looking partnership was broken by wrist spinner Mayank Markande in the

Newly-in Vijay Shankar continued his fine form from last game and kept the scorecard moving forward in a tidy manner with Pant. The duo took Delhi over the 100 mark in the 13th over.

Pant, who slowed his game after Iyer's dismissal, reached his half-century in the 15th over off 34 deliveries.

The hard-hitting southpaw went back to his natural game after that. He shot two sixes and a solitary four in the 16th over of Hardik. Pant also survived a scare in the 16th over after he was given lbw by the umpire. The decision was overturned by the third umpire after a referral from the local boy.

Pant's (64 off 44) electrifying innings came to an end in the 17th over. Failing to clear the boundary off Krunal's delivery, the 20-year-old gave a regulation catch to Keiron Pollard on long-on.

Delhi lost no further wickets after that as Shankar (43 off 30), along with Abhishek Sharma (15 off 10), took his side to 174 for 4 at the culmination of 20th over.

Hardik, Krunal, and Bumrah took one scalp each for Mumbai Indians.