NEWS
Follow UsPoor execution of their bowling plans had costed Mumbai Indians following their four-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals on Sunday, according to former Delhi Daredevils pacer Dirk Nannes.
The five-time champions had DC on the ropes when they reduced the 2020 finalists to 77/5 in 10 overs, but Lalit Yadav (48 not out off 38 balls) and Axar Patel (38 not out off 17 balls) added 74 in just 40 balls to take the game away from them.
"I did not see that coming. I thought they (MI) had the game in the bag, put their foot Delhi's throat but let them back in," Nannes told Cricket.com's review of the match.
Nannes felt that the Mumbai bowlers went for loose deliveries at the end of every over which took the sting out of their innings.
"Mumbai got three wickets in the Powerplay and they looked good. But time and time again, they were bowling on both sides of the bat. The quicks especially, would bowl three of four good balls and then send one on the legs. An over that should have been five (runs) ended up with 10 runs and doing that will allow the opposition to come back," the former Netherlands international explained.
"It (Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel's partnership) wasn't just good batting. You could say that they were gifted some easy runs towards the end. Not just average but they were really poor at times."
Speaking about Daniel Sams, who took a beating with figures of 0-56 from his four overs, Nannes said: "Sams had the mail out on him, that he bowls slower balls at the death. When you have that reputation, you need to evolve in T20 cricket. Everybody catches up to the fact and when you have a coach like Ricky Ponting, who knows exactly what he (Sams) can do. He might've told his guys to milk his faster ones for singles and hit the slower ones into the stands. If you looked at the Delhi batters, they camped on the backfoot and waited for the slower ones which were poorly executed. They planted them in the stands. One 24-run over and the game was done."
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah also endured an off day with figures of 0-43 in 3.2 overs, but Nannes felt its just one quiet day for the speedster.
"I don't think he was tactically bad. When he came back for the final over when the game was done and dusted and nailed a yorker. That was the execution that was missing earlier. It's a one off day and everyone goes through it. He's not really to blame for today," Nannes said.
Nannes praised left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who claimed 3-18 to stifle the Mumbai batting in the middle overs.
"Mumbai's batting was pretty good. Delhi weren't bad as well. Kuldeep Yadav bowled well and was excellent on both sides of the bat. He outperformed his expectations in this game."
Murugan Ashwin was the pick among Mumbai bowlers with 2-14 which included the wickets of Tim Seifert and Mandeep Singh.
"Murugan Ashwin put more revs on his wrong-un and really troubled Prithvi Shaw. That could've been the match-winning spell," Nannes said.
"You've got to scrap and take every win that you can. If you replace a couple of players who faced the new ball with Warner and Marsh, you have a really formidable team. Despite not having bowled well and beating Mumbai is something a team can take every day of the week."
The defeat in the opening match doesn't mean that Mumbai has a bad team.
"Just one defeat doesn't mean Mumbai have a bad team. The way Ishan Kishan came and whacked the ball, they have a lot of quality. They just need to work on their execution," Nannes said.
