DAREDEVILS BREACH MUMBAI FORTRESS
Jason Roy hits unbeaten 91 off 53 balls to guide visitors to first victory
MUMBAI: In a format that’s all about seizing the opportunity, Jason Roy grabbed it with both hands as he guided Delhi Daredevils to a thrilling win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Daredevils required 11 of the last over bowled by Mustafizur Rehman. Roy took 10 from the first two balls but couldn’t connect the next three, freezing under pressure before managing to get the last one over the close-in fielders to guide Daredevils to their first win of the IPL this season.
His unbeaten 53-ball 91 knock included six fours and as many sixes.
Roy has been waiting in the wings since last season. He made his IPL debut with the Gujarat Lions in 2017 but only featured in three matches as Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum opened the batting for the Lions. Picked by Daredevils in the auction, he had to wait once again as New Zealand’s Colin Munro was preferred over him in the first two matches. For Mumbai Indians, it was their third defeat on the trot and in all three matches they were in the contest till the last over.In the end, it all came down to clinging onto the momentum. Daredevils managed to do so but Mumbai failed.
Mumbai had a great opening partnership between Suryakumar Yadav (53) and Evin Lewis (48) of 102, their best in IPL history. They scored 84 in the powerplay, once again their best- ever in the IPL but after that their innings somewhat faltered. A score that at one point looked to be zipping past 200 was restricted to 194.Ishan Kishan (44) was only one after the departure of Suryakumar and Lewis managed to make some significant contribution the rest — Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya — weren’t that effective.For Daredevils, Roy did carry the bat all the way but received good support from Rishab Pant (47) and Shreyas Iyer (27).Daredevils pegged back Mumbai, who at one point were running away with the game. They also picked crucial wickets to break their momentum.