IPL 2019: Match 3, Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals – Tactical failure of the game

Rishabh Pant is slowly turning out to be a threat to deal for the Mumbai Indians as his fifty in the previous IPL edition against them played a key role in halting their journey into the playoffs. In their first game of the 2019 season, MI once again came across a Rishabh classic that continued their losing start to an IPL season. The young keeper-batsman smacked seven maximums and seven fours from the 27 balls he faced to finish with 78* and he powered the Delhi Capitals to a big total of 213/6.

The match-up that MI missed:

Rishabh Pant, who fixed the No.3 spot during the previous season, was pushed to No.5 due to a heavy top-order. He walked out to bat in the 14th over when the Capitals were 112/3. With Shikhar Dhawan missing his timing, the main threat for MI was Rishabh Pant. The Capitals didn’t have any solid batting option after him as he was followed by the likes of Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia and Kagiso Rabada.

If there was one name that could stop the destruction from Pant, it was Jasprit Bumrah. The numbers do back the plan as Pant managed to score only eight runs from 17 deliveries he faced from Bumrah in the IPL and was dismissed three times before this game. With not much batting to follow, Captain Rohit Sharma could have handed Bumrah an over early on.

What actually happened:

1. Hardik Pandya bowled the 14th over that cost only two runs. Pant scored one run from five deliveries in that over. For the 15th over, Rohit decided to give another over to Ben Cutting who just picked Ingram’s wicket instead of trusting Bumrah. Cutting conceded 16 runs including two fours and a six to Pant.

2. Hardik was backed to bowl the 16th over that began with the wicket of Dhawan. However, Pant finished the over by smashing Pandya for 6, 4 and 6.

3. The next over was assigned to Mitchell McClenaghan that brought the wicket of Keemo Paul but Pant hit a couple of more boundaries.

4. By the start of 18th over, Pant cruised to a 15-ball 41 and was in no mood to mind who the bowler was. Jasprit Bumrah was finally back into the attack to finish off the innings by bowling the 18th and 20th overs.

In the 18th over, Pant smashed Bumrah for a six and four to bring up his fifty. He unsettled the 17-year-old Rasikh Salam in the penultimate over by scoring 19 off 5 balls. Pant hit one more six in the last over as his record in the game against Bumrah reads 18 off 7 balls with 3 boundaries.

The result:

Pant’s blitz helped the Delhi Capitals score as many as 99 runs in the last six overs. Had MI got Bumrah against Pant at least a couple of overs earlier, they could have cut down about 30 runs of what the Capitals ended up with. Mumbai Indians have batsmen extending up to No.8 and a target of 180 wouldn’t be big one a flat Wankhede track. They finished with 176 in pursuit of the 214, a target which is a daunting one for any team in any condition.

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