Indian Premier League 2021
IPL 2021: MI vs DC – Mumbai Indians at the unfortunate end of Mishra Magic
Amit Mishra rattled the Mumbai Indians batting order by picking up a sensational four-wicket haul
Amit Mishra registered the best figures for a Delhi bowler with his performance against MI tonight
When Amit Mishra came into bowl for the second time in the ninth over of the match, Mumbai Indians had 70 runs on board and were cruising at a run rate of 8.75. Sure, they had lost the wickets of Quinton De Kock and Suryakumar Yadav, but captain Rohit Sharma and young gun Ishan Kishan were still at the crease.
Rohit Sharma was on a well-timed 38 from 26 and was looking extremely comfortable in the middle. Ishan Kishan was still trying to get himself used to the track after arriving at the crease in the previous over. Destructive hitters in Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, and Krunal Pandya were still sitting in the dugout.
Sensing Rohit Sharma's ability to take the game away from them, Rishabh Pant smartly brought Mishy back into the attack at just the right time to leverage control of the game. Amit Mishra has an impeccable record against the Indian vice-captain.
This match stayed true to that precedent as well. After smacking him for a boundary, Rohit dashed out of his crease. Mishra smartly noticed the movement, and by instinct, dangled up an extremely slow delivery taking it away from Rohit's bat and the MI captain could only find the hands of Steve Smith at long-on. Rohit had faced 91 deliveries from the spinner and made just 87 runs. Mishy managed to bowl 31 dot balls and even got Rohit out seven times!
Mishra went on to add Hardik Pandya in his list of victims in the same over. Looping another slow leg break, this delivery was pitched higher up and Hardik couldn't get underneath it in the manner he'd have wanted to. The ball floating in the air, once again, reached out for Steve Smith's safe hands at long-on. Amit Mishra was punching his fists into the ecstatic air!
In the third over of his spell, Amit Mishra wreaked greater carnage. Facing Kieron Pollard, the man who scored a dazzling 22-ball 35 against SRH in the previous game and has an IPL strike rate close to 150, was dealt with plenty of finesse. Bowling a slower wrong'un wrapped in the coat of deceit, the West Indies all-rounder completely failed to read the variation in his delivery.
The ball went on to strike Pollard high up his pads and up went umpire Shamsuddin's finger after the loud cry of appeals from Pant. Pollard immediately reviewed the decision but could only watch with distraught as the ball tracker on the big screen showed that the delivery just grazed the top of the stumps, enough to warrant an umpire's call. Mishra picked out the big fish and conceded just a couple of runs in that over.
He went on to finish that dream night with the wicket of Ishant Sharma in the 18th over to complete a spectacular spell. With this four-wicket-haul, Mishy is now just eight wickets away from surpassing Lasith Malinga's record of most IPL wickets. He went on to finish with 4 for 24, the best bowling figures by a Delhi bowler against Mumbai Indians.
