Mumbai Indians squeak past Deccan Chargers
Despite a hostile spell from Dale Steyn, a patient innings of 42 from Rohit Sharma saw Mumbai Indians squeaked out a 5 wicket win over the Deccan Chargers at the Wankhede today. After bundling out the Chargers for a mere 100, the Mumbai side knocked off the runs in 18.1 overs. In a low scoring game, the Mumbai Indians had to fight hard on a green top wicket to go past the Deccan total.
Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field on a greenish track at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai went in without the injured Kieron Pollard while Kumar Sangakkara sat out for the Deccan Chargers. Though the pitch had quite a bit for the seamers, it was the Mumbai captain Harbhajan Singh who took the new ball. The Charger openers Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel gave the team a solid start as they put on 37 in the first five overs before Patel fell to Harbhajan Singh.
The wicket started a slide and Deccan kept losing wickets on a track that provided for ample movement for the seamers. Lasith Malinga, James Franklin and Munaf Patel ripped off the Deccan middle order and threatened to bowl them out below a score of 100. However, Shikhar Dhawan and JP Duminy ensured that their side managed a three figure total. Dhawan played a patient 32 ball 29 while Duminy chanced his arm at the end to notch up a 24 ball 25.
The Mumbai bowlers were in complete control with Malinga leading the way with four scalps. The Mumbai captain returned to form by being his mean self with figures of 2 for 13 while Franklin snapped up two as well.
The Mumbai chase got off to a disastrous start as Dale Steyn knocked over Richard Levi with the very first ball of the innings. Dale Steyn, who has been outstanding this IPL with his pace and swing, then beat Rohit Sharma with his next five unplayable deliveries. Sachin Tendulkar on the other end, also struggled to keep up with the nip and movement of the wicket before edging one from Veer Pratap Singh for 14. Mumbai went down further when Steyn came back and picked up Dinesh Karthik for 2.
Rohit Sharma, however, kept his cool and guided the chase before he miscued one from JP Duminy. The Mumbai batsman, put on 31 with Tendulkar and 30 with Franklin to get his team closer to the target. He hit four fours and a huge six on his way to a 48 ball 42. Ambati Rayudu, again, showed his maturity to stay unbeaten on 19 and take Mumbai Indians across the line.
For Deccan Chargers, the star performer was Dale Steyn. The man from South Africa bowled with great pace and swung the ball viciously to return with figures of 2 for 10 in his 4 overs. He was well supported by the likes of Veer Pratap Sing and Ashish Reddy but Deccan never had enough runs on the board to make an impact in the game.
The win here for Mumbai gives them a breathing space as they move into the top four, while Deccan Chargers keep languishing at the bottom thanks to yet another shoddy performance. This IPL has been a torrid tournament for the Chargers but if they fail to put up solid batting performances, it would be highly unlikely even for Steyn to perform miracles in his 4 overs.
Score:
Deccan Chargers 100 (18.4/20 ov)
Mumbai Indians 101/5 (18.1/20 ov)
Man of the Match: Dale Steyn