New Delhi: Mumbai Indians remained unbeaten in the Indian Premier League 2010 while the Delhi Daredevils lost their first game in the tournament as Sachin Tendulkar’s men thrashed Delhi by a huge margin of 98 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Wednesday.

The newly laid Kotla pitch turned out to be a belter and the Delhi Daredevils’ decision to field first after winning the toss backfired. Spurred by blistering half-centuries by Sachin Tendulkar and Sourabh Tiwary, Mumbai posted a formidable 218/7 on the board.

Mumbai had also scored a 200+ score in their first game against Rajasthan Royals but on that occasion, they had just managed to scrape through for a victory by 4 runs. But this time, the Mumbai bowlers did a fantastic job against arguably the strongest batting line-up in the tournament. Delhi Daredevils was bowled out for 120 off just 16.3 overs, with Gambhir not coming out to bat.

It was the Mumbai skipper, Sachin Tendulkar, who set up the game for his team. Put into bat, Sachin Tendulkar led from the front with a brilliant 32-ball 63. His innings was laced with 11 glorious hits to the boundary. Once Tendulkar was dismissed, young left-hander Saurabh Tiwary cracked his second consecutive half-century in the tournament, scoring 61 from 37 balls and Ambati Rayudu chipped in with a handy 34 off 21 balls as the Delhi bowlers were sent on a leather hunt at their home ground.

Chasing a mammoth 219 to win, Delhi were already one wicket down with Gautam Gambhir pulling his hamstring during Mumbai’s innings so it was upto the middle order to anchor the big chase. Delhi began their chase in style as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virender Sehwag took the attack to the Mumbai bowlers. But Dilshan’s Sri Lankan teammate Lasith Malinga ended his stay with a deceptive slower ball.

Sehwag looked to resume from where he left off in Ahmedabad against Rajasthan Royals, but his early onslaught was cut short for 26 by Dwayne Bravo. The West Indies all-rounder, who joined the team prior to this game, struck again in the same over to send back AB de Villiers. Dinesh Karthik’s dismissal for 16, and Mithun Manhas and Farveez Maharoof’s departure in quick succession made matters worse as Delhi were staring the down the barrel at 106-6.

Mumbai wrapped up the proceedings with the wicket of Dirk Nannes, as Gambhir didn’t come out to bat, the victory taking the visitors to the top of the league standings. Bravo, Harbhajan and Sanath Jayasuriya picked up two wickets apiece.

Match Summary:

Mumbai Indians 218 for 7 (Tendulkar 63, Tiwary 61) beat Delhi Daredevils 120 for 9 (Bravo 2-11, Jayasuriya 2-17) by 98 runs

Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar

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