It proved to be a huge score for Delhi to surpass the total made by Mumbai as they were bowled out for 120. Gambhir, due to a hamstring injury could not bat which proved to be too costly for Delhi.
Jayasuriya, Harbhajan and Bravo picked up two wickets for Mumbai.
Scores :
Mumbai Indians : 218/6 in 20 overs
Delhi : 120/9.
Mumbai’s score is the highest yet in the tournament, and a successful chase would have been a new IPL record. Delhi folded up for 120 in the 17th over, but they’d run out of steam after the opening pair of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virender Sehwag failed.
Worse for Delhi, their captain Gautam Gambhir did not bat due to a hamstring injury.
Tendulkar carved Delhi for 11 fours in a 32-ball knock in which he scored 63. After a quick 38-run start with Sanath Jayasuriya, the Mumbai captain dominated the first half of the innings, setting the platform for Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu, who impressed again in his 21-ball 34.
Tiwary, the long-haired dasher from Jamshedpur, followed up his 30-ball fifty against Rajasthan with a 31-ball fifty here.
Much like their explosive partnership at the Brabourne Stadium, Rayudu and Tiwary added 71 at over ten runs an over. It was the difference between Mumbai making a good score and an impregnable one.
Tiwary scored 61 (37b, 4×4, 3×6) and his efforts meant that Kieron Pollard did not get a chance to show off his big-hitting.
Pollard, the 22-year-old West Indian strongman, who is rumoured to be the most expensive buy in IPL history, could face just eight balls on his IPL debut, scoring 10 runs with two fours.
On a roll after notching up two victories in a row, a confident Delhi Daredevils would aim a hat-trick of wins when they clash with Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
The Delhi batsmen would look to exploit the bowling chinks of their rivals, who looked helpless against the Yusuf Pathan onslaught in their first match against Rajasthan.
Mumbai Indians just about managed to survive Pathan storm as except for pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga, the other bowlers looked not more than ordinary.
Bowling would be the area Mumbai need to look into as they prepare to take on batting might of Delhi.
For the hosts, either of the two openers - captain Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag — has spent a good amount of time at the crease to help chase the targets and the middle has also responded well so far.
And the way Sehwag massacred the Rajasthan bowlers with his 34-ball 75 in yesterday’s clash, Mumbai need its bowlers to do some extraordinary to stop the Nazafgarh marauder.
But the best option for them would be to put up a big total on the board since any score less than 200 would not be a problem for Delhi to chase, if Sehwag has his way.
Mumbai too have solid openers in Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya but it was young blood that came to their rescue in the match against Rajasthan Royal.
Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu clicked at the right time to take the team total beyond the 200-run mark and all of them need to fire again tomorrow.
But scoring runs would not be easy for Mumbai as Delhi’s bowling unit is in good touch.
In the two matches so far, they have been successful in restricting both the opponents - Kings XI Punjab and the Rajasthan Royals - inside the 150-mark.
Left-arm pacer Dirk Nannes and Farvez Maharoof have done a brilliant job with the new ball while spinner Amit Mishra and Pradeep Sangwan have also contributed nicely.
The only worry for Delhi would be the form of Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan, who surprisingly has not even opened his account in the two matches.
The explosive and the most sought after batsman these days, Dilshan would be keen to shrug of an indifferent start to the tournament.
Skipper Gambir would also want South African AB de Villiers to find his touch and be among runs to boost the batting order further.
Mumbai need Sanath Jayasuriya and Tendulkar to give them a good start and have to ensure that Ryan McLaren, Rajagopal Sathish and Ali Murtaza shares the burden with Zaheer and Malinga.
Both the skippers would not mind losing toss since how the re-prepared pitch would behave at the Ferozshah Kotla nobody knows.
The December pitch fiasco when India-Sri Lanka ODI was abandoned due to unfit strip is still fresh in the minds of the fans, particularly Delhiites, and a good game of cricket is imperative to redeem the image of the venue.