Deccan Choke as Mumbai win

If IPL 2012 so far had lacked closely fought contests, it definitely made up for it today as Mumbai Indians took on Deccan Chargers in what turned out to be a thriller, going down to the last ball. On paper, you would have thought the match to be one of the easier ones of the campaign for Mumbai. You couldn’t be further from the truth. Needing 18 runs to win off the last over, Rohit Sharma hit two sixes to see Mumbai through to a nail-biting finish in a game marred by controversy.

Choosing to bat first, the Chargers had a slow start with two runs from the first over and losing a wicket in the second one to find themselves at 9/2 after 3.1 overs. Shikhar Dhawan then managed to boost the run-rate for the Chargers with a quick 41 off 24 balls which included four sixes. His dismissal in the seventh over slowed down the tempo of the Chargers’ innings. For the next five overs, Sangakkara and D. Christian tried to keep wickets in hand as they took little risk and avoided the big hits. Munaf Patel in the 13^th over had Sangakkara dismissed, which was initially not given by the umpires. Lots of drama followed as the Mumbai captain, Harbhajan Singh was seen on the pitch in a heated argument with the umpires, asking for the third umpire’s review. The decision was eventually handed over to the third umpire who ruled Sangakkara out, but not before about five minutes of chaos and confusion. Daniel Christian took up the task of pushing the score up with a few boundaries but his dismissal meant that the Hyderabad team were restricted to 138/9.

With a low score to defend, it was necessary for the bowlers to perform if DC were to avoid the humiliation and embarrassment they had to face against Chennai on Saturday. Dale Steyn rose to the occasion with a brilliant bowling display with figures of 4-1-12-3. (Yes, a maiden over!) Ankit Sharma, from the other end, added pressure on the Mumbai batsmen, with their score at 15/2 after 5 overs. The rest of the DC bowling unit, with the exception of Daniel Christian, had a decent game and restricted the Mumbai batsmen well in the middle overs, giving away few boundaries. Into the 18^th over, DC would have fancied a win with the Mumbai Indians needing 37 from 18 balls, a task made harder with just five runs coming in the 19^th over off Dale Steyn. 18 required from 6 balls for the Mumbai Indians, DC looked set to get their first points of the season. But once again, a former DC player, Rohit Sharma kept them off the board scoring 16 runs from the last 4 balls to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, completing the victory with a six off the last ball.

Dale Steyn would be hardfelt after the South African pacer’s exceptional bowling performance went unrewarded as DC crumbled to yet another defeat. But for the Mubai Indians, after a loss against PWI, it is just the beginning of another winning streak.

Deccan Chargers: 138/9 (20 overs)

Mumbai Indians: 142/5 (20 overs)

Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma 73* (50b)

You may also want to read

https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/09/dc-vs-mi-mission-improbable-for-the-chargers/

https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/08/the-problem-with-ipl/