Destructive bowling saw the Delhi Daredevils restricted to 128-7, handing the Mumbai Indians a 14-run victory.
It was a match for the bowlers, with a clinical bowling display from MI and an awesome batting display from Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada as the bowlers turned up the heat in Mumbai.
With the chasing team having lost three matches at the Wankhede this season, Zaheer Khan put Mumbai Indians in to bat for the first time in IPL 10.
One of three changes saw Proteas young’un Rabada receive his IPL debut, and he started off with a bang, knocking over the base of Parthiv Patel’s leg stump with a deadly yorker.
Morris then caused a disruption through a direct hit from a Sanju Samson underarm throw, which sent Jos Buttler back to the dugout after an 18-ball 28.
With MI on 56-2 at the end of the powerplay, wickets continued to fall at a quick rate as the hosts added 28 more runs, losing three scalps in the process.
Kieron Pollard (26 of 29 balls) put in a handy knock to take his side to 120, but he too lost his wicket to Pat Cummins for his second of the day.
Panic in the final two overs saw the hosts searching for runs, and as a result two run-outs for MI, with the Daredevils restricting the hosts to 142-8.
What was to transpire was extraordinary, with 2013 being the last time that a score of under 150 was successfully defended at the Wankhede.
An astonishing top-six collapse for the visitors saw six wickets fall for 24 runs. Mitchell McClenaghan (3-24) was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets, with Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah chipping in with a scalp apiece.
Then came a destructive partnership from the Proteas’ opening pacemen, bringing DD back into the match with a 91-run partnership between Morris and Rabada.
It was a little too late as the Delhi Daredevils suffered their third consecutive defeat, despite a 41-ball 52 from Morris (five fours and a six) and 44 off 39 balls (four fours and a six) from Rabada.
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The Mumbai Indians’ 14-run victory helped them hold on to the No 1 spot after restricting DD to 128-7.
Elsewhere, Imran Tahir took 1-23 (three overs) in the Rising Pune Supergiant’s victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, as they chased down a target of 177. This was the second time that a target of 177-plus was chased against the reigning champions. Rahul Tripathi (59 off 41) helped set up RPS, while MS Dhoni’s 34-ball 61 helped them over the line with a four off the last ball to claim a six-wicket victory.
Photo: Vipin Pawar/IPL/Sportzpics/Cricinfo
