Ambati Rayudu cracked a half-century and Munaf Patel took two quick wickets to help Mumbai Indians post a 32-run win over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match on Saturday.
Rayudu made a 39-ball 59 and seamer Patel finished with 2-29 as Mumbai bowled Delhi out for 146 after scoring 178-4 to boost their chances of qualifying for the next round of the Twenty20 tournament. Australian James Hopes top-scored with 55 for Delhi, who suffered their seventh defeat in 11 matches. Venugopal Rao (37) was the other main scorer. In a rain-hit game, Australian paceman Brett Lee conceded just eight runs in four overs as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by 10 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method. Mumbai currently lead the 10-team league table with 16 points, followed by Kolkata (14), Chennai (12), Bangalore (11), Rajasthan (11), Kochi (10), Delhi (eight), Deccan (six), Punjab (six) and Pune (four).
Mumbai capitalised on a strong start to set a challenging target, with Rayudu hitting two sixes and seven fours in his brisk knock and Rohit Sharma scoring 49 off 32 deliveries. The pair added 87 for the third wicket.
Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai raced to 54 in the opening seven overs, thanks to Australian Aiden Blizzard, who smashed a 23-ball 37 with the help of eight fours, including five in an over from South African paceman Morne Morkel.
Mumbai virtually wrapped up the match when they reduced Delhi to 7-4 in the opening three overs, with Patel dismissing in-form skipper Virender Sehwag and Naman Ojha in the space of five deliveries.
Sri Lankan paceman Lasith Malinga, taken out of the attack for bowling a second full-toss above waist height in his fourth over, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and West Indies’ Kieron Pollard each bagged two wickets for Mumbai.
Malinga has so far taken 24 wickets, the highest by a bowler in an IPL edition.
Kolkata were earlier 61-2 in 10 overs chasing a modest 115-run target when play was called off due to rain. Lee and left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla played key roles in restricting Chennai to a small total on a slow pitch despite a fighting 54 from Subramaniam Badrinath. Abdulla took one wicket in his four overs, giving away 15 runs. Badrinath put on 65 for the fourth wicket in the last nine overs with South African Albie Morkel, who contributed a run-a-ball 30 not out. Chennai struggled for runs, scoring 40 in the opening 10 overs. There were just two sixes and six fours in the entire innings.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 114-4 in 20 overs (S. Badrinath 54, A. Morkel 30 not out) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 61-2 in 10 overs (J. Kallis 21 not out; R. Ashwin 2-12) by 10 runs (D/L method)
Mumbai Indians 178-4 in 20 overs (A. Rayudu 59, R. Sharma 49, A. Blizzard 37) beat Delhi Daredevils 146 in 19.5 overs (J. Hopes 55, V. Rao 37, Irfan Pathan 23; L. Malinga 2-18, Harbhajan Singh 2-24, K. Pollard 2-24, M. Patel 2-29) by 32 runs
