Mumbai Indians stun the Super Kings with last ball thriller

Dwayne Smith threw the kitchen sink at the half volley, and the stadium exploded in a united din as the ball raced down the ground to the straight boundary and sealed a seemingly improbable victory for the Mumbai Indians. Mumbai needed 14 off the last 3 deliveries, and the West Indian all-rounder chose the moment to unleash three powerful strokes down the ground to leave a stunned Chennai lamenting a snatched victory.

Facing a target of 174, Mumbai started slowly with Hiilfenhaus stifling Franklin with some disciplined bowling and eventually getting him to hole out to mid-on with a half-hearted slog. This brought Rohit Sharma to the crease, who started the rebuilding work with Sachin Tendulkar. Both batsmen played themselves into form and came up with fluent innings to take Mumbai to a comfortable position but Mumbai suddenly found themselves staring the barrel with a barrage of their wickets falling. It was then that Dwayne Smith came into his own and took down the last three deliveries to pull off the heist.

Earlier, Chennai piled up a competitive score of 173 with most of their top order batsmen chipping in with swift knocks. At one point Raina and Dhoni threatened to bat the Mumbaikars out of the game, but RP Singh and Malinga bowled tight spells at the death to restrict Chennai to a reasonable target.

Where the teams stand now

Mumbai and Chennai retain the third and fourth position in the table respectively, but the match takes Mumbai a step closer to the playoffs, while Chennai is now threatened by the lower ranked teams for a place in the next stage.

Performance of the day

Sachin Tendulkar was due for a match winning innings and he came up with a confident 74 off 44 to put Mumbai on course for a victory. After his departure, Mumbai put themselves in a hole, out of which Dwayne Smith had to haul them out at the end.

Shot of the day

Murali Vijay put away Munaf Patel for three massive sixes, and Raina powered two slogs over mid-wicket, but when Sachin swiveled effortlessly off the front foot to pull Morkel into the backward square leg stands for a six, he put this prize to rest.

Mr. Disappointment

James Franklin has been given the opening batting slot to exploit his natural hitting ability, but it was nowhere to be seen today as he played out the opening over bowled by Hilfenhaus for no runs. Eventually he got out timidly scoring one run of nine precious deliveries.

Mr. Predictable

Munaf Patel decided to offer some predictable leg-cutters in an over to Murali Vijay and saw them one-by-one being deposited into the stands to concede three sixes and a four. The once-fastest Indian bowler will have to come up with more pace and variety in the next match if he doesn’t want to see the batsmen advance down the track to him.

Mr. Superman

Tendulkar smashed the ball inside out over the cover fielder only to see a flying Faf du Plessis pluck the ball out of thin air to send him back to the dugouts. This would have been the turning point of the match had Mumbai not sealed the victory of the last ball.

Match meter

It was a thrilling match that provided for some crisp hits from Vijay, Raina, Tendulkar and Sharma and some exhilarating yorkers from Malinga and Hilfenhaus. The fans certainly got their money’s worth on this this one.

Score: 9/10

The next step

Rohit Sharma has exasperated Mumbai fans this season with some disappointing outings, but came good in this match with a fluent 60 off 46 balls. Return to form for Sachin and RP Singh will be heartening for the Mumbai supporters, but many of their domestic players are yet to create an impact. Mumbai will hope to see these players contribute before they hit the knockout stage.

Chennai did almost everything right, with 4 of the top 5 batsmen scoring runs, and their bowlers doing reasonably well on a good batting wicket. Chennai now have no room for mistakes with the other teams breathing down their necks, but they will be looking to build on their performances to kick-start a recovery.

Mumbai Indians will next play Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 9, while Chennai Super Kings face Rajasthan Royals on May 10.