The match that Mumbai Indians fans would never forget
The Indian Premier League is one of the most watched and popular leagues across the world. The IPL has a huge fan base all over the world and the fans crave for every season of IPL. It has also brought many unknown and rare talents to the limelight.
Since the IPL is one of the most exciting aspects of the game, we take a look at the summary of one of the most thrilling matches played in IPL.
The match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians was played just before the much-important playoffs in 2014, and was also the 56th IPL match of that season and was played in Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai won the toss and decided to bowl first. The time period at which the crunch situation for Mumbai began was the 14th over wherein Mumbai need to win the match within 14.3 overs to enter into the playoffs. However, on the basis of net run-rate possessed by Rajasthan, they could easily enter into the playoffs.
The scenario demanded the bowlers of Mumbai Indians to bowl extraordinarily so as to reduce the target to the least. However, it was not to be as the partnership between Sanju Samson and Karun Nair changed the fortunes in Rajasthan Royals' way. Also, Mumbai Indians had to chase a mammoth target of 190 runs in very limited overs.
The required run-rate at the start of the innings for Mumbai Indians to qualify read 13.3 per over. The Mumbai Indians batsman were put to pressure to win the match within 14.3 overs. The openers Simmons and Hussey failed to build a solid partnership and they lost their wickets in early overs of the game.
To Mumbai's rescue, Corey Anderson, the New Zealand left-hand batsman played well and also he scored 95 runs from 44 balls at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 215.91.
Finally, in the last three balls of the 24th over, Mumbai needed 8 runs to win. In 14.1, Anderson scored a single run. The very next ball, Rayudu managed to hit a six from a full toss bowled by Faulkner. This relieved the situation for MI and 2 runs were needed from 1 ball.
Unfortunately for Rayudu, despite hitting the ball hard, he got run-out while attempting the second run. The scores were level and the match was all square. On the basis of net run rate qualifying criterion, Mumbai Indians had to hit a boundary to seal their place in the playoff spot.
Tare was at strike and he managed to pull off a great win for Mumbai as he hit a superb six over mid-on. The players were on their feet and fans too witnessed one of the greatest matches of all time. The celebration prevailed and Mumbai entered into Playoffs. This match is widely considered as the toughest challenge faced by Mumbai Indians.
Video credits: AKMFA YouTube