THE fifth edition of the IPL, which got off to a tepid start, finally had a nail-biter as Rohit Sharma hit the last ball of the match for six to seal a cinematic finish for Mumbai Indians against Deccan Chargers, who fought tooth and nail while defending an underwhelming 139. (Scores: Mumbai Indians 142 for 5 (Rohit 73*, Steyn 3-12) beat Deccan Chargers 138 for 9 (Dhawan 41, Christian 39, Munaf 4-20) by five wickets.)
Daniel Christian, not the wisest choice for the final over, as very recent history tells us, dished out two full tosses to Rohit Sharma, including off the final ball which was smacked over long-on with three needed.
The Chargers were still favourites with 18 to defend off the last over. Kumar Sangakkara had bowled out his best bowler, Dale Steyn, leaving the final honours to Christian.
The first ball was smashed by James Franklin wide of long-off for four; the second down the same region; the batsmen sneaked a bye off the third; the fourth was a high full toss slammed by Rohit Sharma over deep backward point.
With five needed off two, the penultimate ball was forced to long-off and Rohit Sharma timed his dive just in time to survive a run-out appeal. Christian couldn’t come up with anything special, gifting Rohit Sharma with the most hittable delivery of the over, breaking many hearts of the home fans who went home disappointed for the second time in as many games.
Fortunes kept oscillating in the final overs, but for most periods in the chase, the Chargers were in control. Much of the credit should go to Dale Steyn, who ran in with the same vigour as he does for South Africa. He defeated the best hitters in the Mumbai line-up with raw pace and fizzy bounce, nipping out three wickets for just 12 runs. He took 2 for 6 in his first spell, conceded just two off his next over and only five off his final over.
In hindsight, Sangakkara will feel he should have kept him for the final over.
Steyn gave the Chargers the early advantage by plucking a return catch in his follow-through with a split-second reflex to get rid of T. Suman. The fourth over, a wicket-maiden from Steyn, was the spectacle of the evening. He ran in high on adrenalin and had his fellow countryman Richard Levi all at sea with raw pace. He targeted the stumps, forced Levi to stab at deliveries cramping him for room, foxed him with a slower one that sneaked past the outside edge and the stumps, bounced him, but saved his best delivery for the last. Levi played all around a fiery full delivery aimed at the stumps and knocked back his middle stump.
For a team with big hitters at the top, Mumbai were struggling at 15 for 2 after five overs. The run-rate touched the five-mark only after 11 overs, indicative of how miserly the Chargers were.
The ball spun, gripped and even kept low, meaning that the batsmen had to concentrate harder. Rohit Sharma fetched two boundaries and a six – over extra cover – off Christian to keep Mumbai afloat.
The arrival of Kieron Pollard, in the 12th over, perked up the run-rate. The spinners were always vulnerable against Pollard, who swung two sixes and a four to leave Mumbai a gettable 56 off the last six overs.
Another spiteful over from Steyn, in which he hit the deck hard, softened up Pollard. He slammed Amit Mishra over long-off the following over, but perished trying the same against Christian, skying it to Shikhar Dhawan at long-off. Mumbai’s shoulders would have dropped after Pollard walked off, but not Rohit Sharma’s, who walloped two more sixes off Mishra to restore hope for Mumbai.
Rohit Sharma’s hitting overshadowed Munaf Patel’s four-wicket haul, which was responsible for keeping the Chargers down to 138 – below par by Twenty20 standards, but ultimately competitive in today’s context. It also masked an ugly incident involving Sangakkara’s dismissal, where some of the Mumbai players got confrontational with the umpires.
Munaf bowled a low full toss which Sangakkara shaped to drive, but got an inside edge which shaved the off stump and knocked off the bails.
The wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik was standing up close and the ball deflected back to the stumps off his pads, causing confusion as to whether he was legitimately bowled in the first place. The umpires initially gave Sangakkara the benefit of the doubt, choosing not to refer it to the third umpire. The Mumbai players were peeved, particularly Munaf, who flung the ball on the turf as he ambled back to his mark.
A furious Harbhajan Singh marched to the square leg umpire Johan Cloete, who was soon enveloped by Munaf and Karthik, leading to ugly scenes which put the MCC Spirit of Cricket pledge at the opening ceremony to distant memory.
A clueless Sangakkara went across to have a word with the umpires but by then, it was as if the umpires were coerced into referring it. In theory, Sangakkara was legitimately out and the umpires should have had the presence of mind to consult.
Mumbai’s road-rage, though, left a bad taste in the mouth and it makes one wonder how different it could have been had Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai’s original captain, been in charge. Tendulkar, unfortunately, was at the dug out, and there was nobody around to defuse the situation.
Cameron White and Christian added a quick 41 for the fifth wicket, smashing four sixes in their stand to boost the Chargers. Lasith Malinga and Pollard ran through the lower order to restrict the Chargers to a total the batsmen would have backed themselves to chase easily.
Fortunately for the visitors, they ran into a bowler who suffered another nightmare of conceding a six off the last ball in front of global television audiences.