Mumbai Indians may have nothing going right for them outside the field with several of their stars falling prey to injury but luck shone on them for the second consecutive match as they scrambled home to a one wicket victory over the brave Trinidad & Tobago team. After having secured an improbable victory against the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai almost messed up a fairly easy run chase after restricting the side from the Caribbean to 98. A valiant innings of 36 from Rayudu coupled with schoolboyish errors from the Trinidadians helped Mumbai snatch two points of the last ball of the match.
Mumbai Indians scrape through yet again
All seemed to go Trinidad’s way after Ganga won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat deck, the only hiccup coming when Barath was cleaned up by Malinga. They were coasting at 41 for one when a moment of madness triggered the downfall. Simmons trotting back for an easy second run found himself in trouble after Rayudu whipped the bails from a throw from Franklin. The replays showed that Simmons bat was not grounded while his front foot was in the air and the back foot on the line. The middle order showed no resistance as Ramdin offered Harbhajan a simple return catch was Bravo was undone by a Harbhajan yorker. Sherwin Ganga and Cooper were trapped in front as West Indies were bundled out for 98 with 22 balls remaining.
All talk of Mumbai’s opportunity to increase the net run rate went down the drain as Badree got Blizzard to top edge a sweep. Trinidad’s moist experienced bowler got Suman to edge one to the slips as he also removed Franklin and Symonds of consecutive balls. Trinidad’s own Pollard could do his home team no harm as Mumbai were reduced to 33/5. Sathish looked like a fish out of water as he struggled to 14 runs of 25 deliveries before his dismissal left Mumbai needing 34 runs of 32 balls. Harbhajan hit a big one into the stands before perishing to a brilliant throw from the outfield as he tried to keep Rayudu on strike. Malinga, hero of the opening encounter, was gifted a boundary as Mumbai needed 15 to win of the last two overs. Rampaul bowled a brilliant over as Mumbai were left needing 11 to win of the last over, a situation that looked impossible after the first innings.
Malinga smashed Ganga’s second ball for a six as Mumbai moved within striking distance of a victory. Malinga was successful in handing Rayudu the strike but he ran himself out as three were required of two balls with two wickets remaining. Rayudu’s drive to long on at a snail’s pace but Simmons rocketed a throw to the keeper as Rayudu was miles out of his crease as he tried to attempt a second run.
One ball, two to win and one wicket to go!!
Darren Ganga baffled everyone with his tactics as he decided to save the two instead of saving the single. Sherwin Ganga floated a full toss on leg stump as Yuzvendra Chahal flicked the ball to mid-wicket and scampered off for a double as the throw came in. The throw though wide was quick and gave Ramdin ample time to knock the bails of.
But pressure does get to everybody!
Ramdin collected the throw cleanly but instead of whipping the bails off decided to go for an under-arm throw. He missed the stumps by a fair margin as the batsman completed the double. The Trinidadians slumped to their knees with tears in their eyes as Mumbai pulled off a heist for the second week in a row!
Trinidad & Tobago: 98 all out in 16.2 overs (Harbhajan Singh 3/22)
Mumbai Indians: 99/9 in 20 overs (Rayudu 36; Rampaul 3/17)
Trinidad & Tobago lost to Mumbai Indans by 1 wicket and 0 balls to spare.
Man of the Match: Ravi Rampaul
Tags: CLT20, CLT20 2011, MI, Mumbai Indians, Trinidad & Tobago
