Comfortably placed Mumbai Indians on the points table at number three, had to toil it out to post a win against the Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai lead by Harbhajjan Singh had a roller coaster ride before overpowering the Chennai at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday in Mumbai. In the 49th match of the ongoing Indian Premier league fifth season, Mumbai had the last laugh. Mumbai wins the toss and asks Chennai to bat.
Chennai opened the innings with some splendid batting display by M Vijay, who scored 41 runs. He was equally supported by Suresh Raina who scored 36 runs. Later on Bravo played solid anchoring in the middle of the game and scored 40 runs. Chennai posted a comfortable total, 173 / 8 in the stipulated twenty overs. On the bowling front for Mumbai, Malinga as usual knocked down three wickets, and RP Singh too aided the attack by hauling another three wickets.
Mumbai which had a huge target set by Chennai opened well. Solid performances by Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma gave a good start to the home team. In the process Sachin scored 74 runs and Sharma 60, even after losing the first wicket at 8 runs in the form of J Franklin who just scored a run. After the successful second wicket partnership, when Sachin was caught from a ball from Ashwin, the rest succumbed. Less than twenty runs on board Mumbai lost nearly seven wickets in quick succession, pulling the strings tighter. The last over of Ben Hilfenhaus barged the Mumbai Indians surge ahead of the visiting team.
Mumbai needed 16 runs off six balls. Quite crucial and critical, the pessimists lost hope while the optimists survived on faint hopes. In the first ball Smith took a single and gave the strike to Malinga. The second ball saw Mallinga walk back to the dressing room. This was the point when fans felt goose bumps and were a bit shaken. Then walked in R P Singh!! He faced the third ball and took a single. Smith who was desperately waiting for the chance drove the fourth for a six. The last two balls crossed the ropes giving eight runs (2x4) to the home team. Mumbai laps up the match in a nail biting finish. Spectacular moment of rejoice for the home fans.
In an yet another match played in Bangalore, between the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the home team comfortably won the match by splendid performance from A de Villers. He scored 47 runs and claimed the Man of the Match honors. (With Inputs from Internet- Aarkay)
