Sat, 24 Sep 2011 - IP Chennai vs IP Mumbai, Champions T20 League 2011, 3rd Match - Bulletin

Mumbai's Malinga prevents Chennai win

For 36 of the 40 overs, Chennai were the side winning the game but a remarkable late fight back with Lasith Malinga in the lead, Mumbai chased down a daunting 159 run target on the penultimate ball with three wickets in the bag. Mumbai were almost out of contention at 106 for 7 when Malinga walked in to bat, an out-of-this-world 18-ball 37 was enough to take the visitors across the line.

Malinga is more known for his searing yorkers but he won the game with the bat. That was, however, preceded by a stupendous 81 run innings from Michael Hussey which powered Chennai to 158. With this loss, Chennai have finally lost a game at home this year and the fortress was breached when least expected.

Chasing 159 was never going to be easy given the kind of variety Chennai have among their bowling ranks. Mumbai needed a quick-fire start before the spinners came into play, Blizzard and Jacobs began in right earnest by getting the chase off to a good beginning. The duo hit some powerful strokes to take the visitors to 39 in the fifth over before Ashwin had his first victim of night through a leg-side stumping.

The fact that Mumbai had no one to anchor the chase, the batsmen tried to throw their bats at everything. Blizzard was cleaned up by Raina for 28, Rayudu was caught behind, T Suman was stumped and Andrew Symonds could hit the ball no farther than the long-on fielder as Mumbai stumbled to 85 for 6 in the 12th over. Kieron Pollard hit a few lusty shots to briefly revive the faltering Mumbai chase but the threat didn’t last too long as he miscued a swish to be pouched by Dhoni for 22, the Mumbai score card reading 106 for 7 in 15.2 overs.

With the required rate going out of the roof, Mumbai were staring down the barrel but they did not give up, Malinga after his exploits with the ball used the long handle to good effect. He first pulled Albie Morkel for a four before dispatching Shadab Jakati for two consecutive sixes to breathe some life into the chase. MS Dhoni missed an easy stumping chance off Malinga in the same over, at end of which Mumbai needed 32 in 18 deliveries.

Malinga somehow deflected a Bollinger yorker to the third man boundary in the next over but few dot balls made the target much more difficult at 26 off 2 overs. Harbhajan got off strike to give Malinga to try few more hits and the ploy worked as a straight hit off Morkel landed over the long-off ropes. That left 12 runs off the last over, Bollinger made the mistake of bowling length deliveries which were dispatched for couple of boundaries. When the winning run was scored, the near packed Chepauk was stunned into silence as the Mumbai camp celebrated, even Sachin Tendulkar who was not playing due to an injury could not hide his emotions.

Earlier, Michael Hussey’s 81 run knock was an exhibition of how to pace an innings in T20s even on surfaces not conducive for stroke play. He began by picking up the singles and doubles, accelerated during the middle stages and exploded towards the end to take Chennai to 158 for 4 on a sluggish but typical Chepauk surface.

After electing to bat, Chennai started cautiously due to the threat of Malinga yorkers. And, Vijay found out why ‘The Slinger’ is such a high value player for Mumbai, a perfect in swinging yorker sent the stumps for a toss with the score at 28. Raina hit a couple of attractive strokes before a fortuitous ricochet off the keeper’s pads had him stumped for 18.

Meanwhile, Hussey had come to terms with the pace and bounce in the pitch and was slowly beginning to increase the tempo. Having already hit four boundaries, Hussey decided to give Yuzvendra Chahal a charge and lofted him straight for a maximum. With Mr. Cricket, it was not all power though, there was a late cut that sped to the boundary. Soon the left hander raised his bat for the 12th time in T20’s having brought up his fifty. When Badrinath fell in the sixteenth over, Chennai had moved to 111 and the stage had been set for a late blitzkrieg.

Another six off Harbhajan was followed by three boundaries in one Malinga over (18th) as Chennai were marching towards a bog total. The best of the three was a premeditated paddle to send a low full toss flying over the short fine leg for a boundary. Hussey hit one more biggie before being caught in the deep for 57-ball 81 punctuated by eight boundaries and three mighty hits over the ropes. The last over yielded only one boundary but Chennai piled 158 for 4.