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Harbhajan Singh produced a fantastic all-round display to almost single-handedly beat the Deccan Chargers comprehensively by 41 runs. He first cracked a whirlwind 49 off a mere 18 balls before picking 3 wickets to completely overwhelm the Chargers.

The match, officially a home fixture for the Chargers, was nevertheless played at the DY Patil Stadium on the outskirts of Mumbai, and the Indians thus went into the game which an unusual ‘away advantage'. Gilchrist won the toss and put Mumbai in. Kemar Roach, the Barbadian speedster, who had been a surprise pick at the auction earlier this year for a whopping 720,000 USD, was drafted in to replace the old, but in-form warhorse, Chaminda Vaas, more to give Roach a chance and justify his obnoxious paycheck rather than any fault in Vaas' bowling. Further, VVS Laxman and Rahul Sharma were benched for Mohnish Mishra and Jaskaran Singh. Mumbai brought back Ambati Rayudu and he was given the unfamiliar responsibility behind the stumps as the man he replaced was Aditya Tare, the regular keeper.

Roach started proceedings but could not rev up to the pace he is capable of generating. He clocked regularly in the 140s but is capable of crossing 150 kmph. Nevertheless he did trouble Shikhar Dhawan but failed to prise out a wicket. Jaskaran Singh shared the new ball and Sachin Tendulkar picked him off with his trademark shots that pierce the field expertly. Jaskaran even bowled two consecutive no balls followed by a wide, but Sachin failed to hit the full toss offered as a free hit for runs. This was just after Jaskaran had bowled the perfect yorker to Dhawan (8) and had trapped him leg before.

Dwayne Bravo came in at one drop and played a breezy cameo full of delightful shots that had the typical Caribbean flair in the high front elbow and exaggerated follow through. He started off with a six and a four to Pragyan Ojha, and then hit Andrew Symonds for two more boundaries, all trademark lofted Bravo shots.

Mumbai were cruising as the timeout was taken, and its timing turned out to be a masterstroke. Bravo (23) picked out Symonds at long-off 3 balls into RP Singh's over post the break and RP had the in-form Saurabh Tiwary (4) play a loose shot away from the body and give Gilchrist a regulation take. The slide continued as Ojha, who got the ball to turn prodigiously on many occasions foxed Ambati Rayudu (6) in the air and Gilchrist whipped the bails off to catch the batsman stranded down the track. Sathish (3) then top-edged a sweep off Ojha to short fine and the big man Kieron Pollard (1) edged Jaskaran to third man. Sachin was left struggling for partners as the middle order simply caved in on the team, leaving the Indians looking down the barrel at 93 for 6 from 13.1 overs.

The Little Master kept up the lone struggle to raise his fifty and get ever so close to snatching the Orange Cap of Jacques Kallis' head. He fell playing what was possibly his first ugly shot of the season, edging behind while trying to pull a slow bouncer after coming down the pitch. At 120/7 with 3 overs to go, it looked like the Mumbai innings was withering away.

That's when Harbhajan Singh launched a blazing offensive that stunned the Chargers and left them gasping for breath. The fiery Sardar bludgeoned his was to helps his side raise 52 off the last 3, adding a lion share of those runs off his own bat. He started with a nonchalant six and four off his dear old friend Andrew Symonds before decimating Kemar Roach's hitherto impressive figures with 3 fours and a maximum. Jaskaran bowled two beamers off the first two balls of the final over, the second of which was sent racing to the fence. Rohit Sharma was called upon to finish off the over, and he disappeared for 3 consectutive boundaries. Bhajji had a chance to finish with the fastest fifty of IPL 3.0, bettering Robin Uthappa's 19-ball effort, but incredibly failed to connect off the last ball of the innings. It was all off the middle of the bat for the tailender, save for an edge down to fine leg off Roach, and he showed just how capable he is with the willow on his day.

Such was the impact of that destructive cameo that he was brought on right away to start proceedings with the ball, and his party continued as Gilly edged his second ball to give Sachin a splendid one-handed diving catch at slip (Tendulkar though later said that the plan all along was to start with Harbhajan against Gilchrist). Herschelle Gibbs came in and tucked into the bowling for a bit, hitting two boundaries in the same opening over, before slapping Zaheer Khan for two consecutive hits over the fence. Gibbs (27) though fell in that very same Zaheer Khan over, hammering an almost waist-high full toss straight to Pollard at cover point. Lasith Malinga derailed the chase further with a gem of a first over, costing just one and picking up both Mohnish Mishra (13) and the prize wicket of the burly Queenslander Andrew Symonds (1).

Rohit Sharma and Tirumalasetti Suman kept the ship afloat for a while, hitting Bravo into the stands once each, before the irrepressible Bhajji came back to send back Suman (15) caught-and-bowled. Venugopal Rao (7) holed out of Pollard in the deep in the quest of quick runs and Mumbai were into the Chargers' tail. Jaskaran gave Bhajji his third wicket, looking to go over deep midwicket but failing to clear the man.

Meanwhile Rohit Sharma was playing a blinder to keep the Chargers just within sight of the target. His aggressive strokeplay ensured that the required rate hovered just around the 10 mark despite the fall of wickets. The batting timeout was taken at the end of the 15th over with Deccan needing 51 from the final 5.

Just like in the first essay, Mumbai excelled towards the end of the innings to seal the game. Sachin had 2 overs each from Malinga and Zaheer up his sleeve. The duo bowled yorker after yorker to deny Sharma the length needed to deliver the big hits. Zaheer removed Sharma and Roach in the same over and Malinga undid RP Singh, all bowled to deliver the coup-de-grace to the Deccan challenge.

Mumbai thus showed the depth of their batting as for the first time in the competition, their top order seemed to come a cropper but was propelled late by the feisty No.9. He further contributed heavily with the ball with 3 wickets to win the Man-of-the-Match trophy hands down.

Mumbai now rest proudly atop the pile as the only team to have won 5 games. They are well on the way to becoming the first team to qualify for the semifinal berths. They have shown their batting depth today and they possess in their arsenal Zaheer and Malinga who have the potential to bowl 24 straight yorkers at the death, and this will serve them exceedingly well in the knockout stage of the competition.

Mini Scorecard:

Mumbai Indians: 172/7 (20.0 overs)
Sachin Tendulkar 55 (43 balls; 9x4)                 RP Singh 4-0-31-3
Harbhajan Singh 49* (28 balls; 8x4; 2x6)         Pragyan Ojha 4-0-24-2

Deccan Chargers:
Rohit Sharma 45 (28 balls; 3x4; 2x6)              Lasith Malinga 3.4-0-12-3
Herschelle Gibbs 27 (16 balls; 3x4; 2x6)         Zaheer Khan 3-0-21-3

Also read: Match Preview: Delhi Daredevils vs. Kolkata Knight Riders

File Photograph Copyright: Gayatri Naik

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