Lasith Malinga grabbed five wickets in a superb exhibition of fast bowling to set up Mumbai Indians’ eight-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Sunday.
In another match, Yuvraj Singh’s Pune Warriors made an impressive IPL debut when they posted an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab with more than six overs to spare in Mumbai.
Sri Lankan Malinga, known for bowling accurate yorkers, finished with 5-13 off 3.4 overs as Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians dismissed Virender Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils for 95 in the Twenty20 tournament.
Photo: AFP
Naman Ojha (29) and Venugopal Rao (26) were the main contributors for Delhi, who could not even bat their full quota of 20 overs. Five batsmen failed to open their accounts in a dismal batting performance.
Mumbai did not face any difficulty in achieving a modest target, winning their opening match with more than three overs to spare at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi.
Tendulkar (46 not out), who added 68 for the unfinished third-wicket stand with Rohit Sharma (27 not out), ended the match when he drove seam bowler Irfan Pathan through the covers for a four.
Photo: AFP
Malinga jolted Delhi with two wickets in three balls when he bowled Australian David Warner and local boy Unmukt Chand in his opening over.
Delhi suffered a big setback when Sehwag was run out for 19 following Tendulkar’s direct-hit at the striker’s end.
Malinga then returned for his second spell to get two more wickets in one over, again in the space of three deliveries, when he bowled Rao and South African Morne Morkel. He ended the innings when he got rid of Ashok Dinda.
The Warriors lost former South African Twenty20 captain Graeme Smith caught at extra-cover off medium-pacer Praveen Kumar off the very first ball of its innings but New Zealand international Jesse Ryder and Mithun Manhas put on 60 to set their side on the road to victory.
Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa added 45 for the unbroken fourth wicket to seal the win.
South African Ryan McLaren top-scored for Punjab with an unbeaten 51.
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