Young batsman Krunal Pandya smashed his maiden IPL half-century and shared a 98-run fiery stand with opener Martin Guptill to power Mumbai Indians to a commanding 206/4 against Delhi Dardevils, here on Sunday.
Invited to bat, Mumbai Indians lost Rohit Sharma (31) after a steady start but Pandya and Guptill came up with very aggressive knocks that blew away the rival attack.
They added 98 runs in his 8.2 overs for the second wicket , steering the side to a mammoth total.
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 37-ball knock before being bowled by Chris Morris in the fag end of the innings.
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. 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.
Scoreboard Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma c Pant b Mishra 31, M. Guptill c Nair b Zaheer 48, Krunal Pandya b Morris 86, K. Pollard c de Kock b Morris 3, J. Buttler (not out) 18, A. Rayudu (not out) 13. Extras: (b4, lb2, w1) 7. Total: (for 4 wkts, in 20 overs) 206. FoW: 1-46, 2-144, 3-173, 4-174. Bowling: Nadeem 4-0-42-0, Morris 4-0-34-2, Zaheer 4-0-23-1 (1w), Mishra 4-0-42-1, Tahir 4-0-59-0.
