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The South Australia Redbacks pulled off a thrilling 5-wicket victory against hot favourites Mumbai Indians in the Champions League T20 to get one step closer to a semi-final berth. Mumbai's bowlers, barring Lasith Malinga, were pretty much all over the place and a couple of dropped catches at important times hit them hard. Mumbai scored 180 while batting first thanks to contributions from Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu. The Redbacks' openers, Daniel Harris and Michael Klinger, gave them an excellent start. Both went on to get half-centuries and put on 112 runs for the first wicket. That provided a wonderful platform for the hard-hitting men to follow and despite needing twelve runs an over in the last five, they managed to pull off an unlikely win with three balls to spare.

Mumbai have now lost both their matches and they have to win both their next two matches and pray that other results go their way to have any chances of staying alive in the competition. The Redbacks are meanwhile just a couple of steps away from a semi-final spot and they will definitely believe that they can make it considering their remaining fixtures includes a game against Guyana.

Mumbai Indians skipper, Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and decided to bat first. Mumbai made a couple of changes to the side that lost the opening match against the Highveld Lions. West Indies all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo was back in the XI and so was left-hander Saurabh Tiwary, who had missed the first encounter due to an injury. Rajagopal Satish and Ryan McLaren were the unfortunate ones to miss out. As expected, South Australia Redbacks stuck to the same XI that had won them their first match against the Lions.

The strategy from the Redbacks early on was to bowl short and push the batsmen back. Shaun Tait nearly broke through when he got Shikhar Dhawan to play an aerial pull towards fine leg but the fielder couldn't hold on to the catch while diving forward. Dhawan (2) fell soon after though, caught behind off Gary Putland in the very next over. Tait and Putland bowled well with the new ball and even Tendulkar found it difficult to get them away. Mumbai could get just 17 runs in the first four overs. Daniel Christian came on to bowl first change and his first delivery was deposited beyond the fine-leg boundary by Tendulkar. That set the tone for the rest of the over in which the master managed to pick up two more boundaries to give the innings some much needed momentum. He tried to get after the left-armer, Aaron O'Brien too but the youngster kept his cool and managed to get one past Tendulkar (20) and the ball went on to disturb the woodwork. Mumbai were in a spot of bother at 35 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.

Ambati Rayudu didn't get off to a great start. He tried to hit his way out of trouble but was hardly able to connect with the ball. He finally got one out of the middle of the bat and the ball sailed over the straight boundary. But the bowler, O'Brien came back well and got JP Duminy (3) caught and bowled a couple of deliveries later. Tiwary walked out at number 5 to join Rayudu, who seemed to have settled down by now. The duo played cautiously, picking up ones and twos and avoiding the risky shots. Mumbai Indians were 59 for 3 at the half way mark. O'Brien was brought back into the attack soon after for his third over. Rayudu sensed an opportunity and went after him. He succeeded in getting a boundary and a six and tried to do the same against leggie Cullen Bailey in the following over. But this time he couldn't connect well and the ball went straight up in the air. Daniel Harris ran back from extra cover to take a beauty that sent Rayudu (38) back to the hutch.

Bailey's joy was short lived though as Tiwary cleared the long-off boundary on his next delivery. Kieron Pollard walked out at the fall of Rayudu with his team desperately needing a breezy little cameo from him. He got off the mark with a straight six off Bailey and followed it up with another massive six off Christian in the next over to take Mumbai past 100. Mumbai's score read 112 at the end of 15 overs. They had two big hitters out in the middle and a total of 160 was pretty much on the cards. The 16th over of the innings put Mumbai in the driver's seat. It was O'Brien's last over and Tiwary thrashed him for 25 runs and that included three consecutive sixes. Tait was brought back into the attack to break the partnership and he did just that, getting Tiwary (44) caught at mid-on. He also managed to apply the brakes on the scoring. However, Putland wasn't able to replicate that and both Bravo and Pollard got a boundary each in his over. Tait's last over, the penultimate one of the innings, wasn't as good as his previous one. He bowled Pollard a bouncer that was banished way outside the ground and Bravo followed it up with a boundary off Tait's last delivery. Pollard (36) fell to Christian on the first ball of the 20th over, slicing the ball straight down third man's throat. But Bravo continued going, getting two consecutive boundaries before running himself out on the penultimate ball of the innings for 22.

The Mumbai Indians reached 180 at the end of their 20 overs, a brilliant comeback after being 59 for 3 after 10 overs. They got 121 runs in the last 10 overs, and 68 from the last 5. Rayudu helped steady the innings after the Redbacks had started off well and Tiwary and Pollard provided the final thrust. Bravo too chipped in with an important cameo and that helped Mumbai reach a total that had looked highly improbable at one stage. The Redbacks had a tough job on their hand, more so because Mumbai had the likes of Lasith Malinga, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh in their attack. But it was not impossible by any means.

Michael Klinger, the man-of the match in the Redbacks' previous match, and Harris couldn't get off to a flyer as they would have liked. Zaheer and Malinga didn't seem the easiest to get away and the latter could have had Harris when the batsman top-edged a ball way up in the air but Tendulkar failed to hold onto the chance. Ali Murtaza was brought on in the final over of the powerplay and he was hit for a six by each opener. Fifteen runs off the sixth over took the Redbacks to 42 for no loss at the end of the six overs of fielding restrictions. Harbhajan could have had Harris with his first delivery, but Tiwary dropped an absolute sitter at deep square leg. Misfielding and overthrows added to Mumbai's woes as the Redbacks reached 69 for no loss at the half way stage.

The game was still in the balance and with all their wickets intact, the Redbacks still had a pretty good chance of chasing down the target. Things got better for the Aussie side when Bravo leaked 18 runs in an over that included a couple of sixes from Klinger and a boundary from the bat of Harris. Meanwhile, Harbhajan was bowling a tidy little spell but he was unable to break the partnership. Pollard was brought on in place of Bravo and he too was treated in a similar fashion as his countryman. Harris heaved him for consecutive sixes that brought up his fifty and the hundred of the innings. But unfortunately for Harris (56), he couldn't continue the onslaught as he was caught at extra cover off Murtaza in the very next over. Murtaza could have had two in an over but Rayudu spilled a catch off Klinger's bat. But Klinger couldn't capitalise on that as he was caught at long on in the next over itself off Malinga just after he had got to his half-century. Mumbai had struck back at a crucial stage with the wickets of two set batsmen. The Redbacks were left to get 60 off the last five overs.

The pressure was on the batting side now. Graham Manou (12) hit Murtaza out of the park but he was caught just inside the rope on the very next delivery. Murtaza was again in action a couple of deliveries as he took a well-judged catch on the boundary that accounted for Callum Ferguson (6). The Redbacks needed 41 off their last three overs. Christain and Cameron got in on the act to get three boundaries off the 18th over bowled by Bravo to bring the target down to 25 off the last two. But Christian (19) couldn't see his side through and he was caught at long on off Zaheer. Borgas got a boundary off Zaheer and new batsman Tom Cooper lifted him into the stands to leave 11 runs to get off the last over, bowled by Harbhajan. Cooper was on strike and he sealed the match in style. He took two off the first delivery and deposited the next one beyond the mid-wicket fence before winning the contest with an excellent on drive that pierced the field perfectly.

The Redbacks had chased down a huge total and it was Mumbai's second defeat of the tourney. Daniel Harris was awarded the man-of the match for his 56 off just 37 balls. The Redbacks now have two wins out of two and a semi-final spot is definitely within sight. They will next face the Royal Challengers of Bangalore on Friday, the 17th of September. Mumbai, meanwhile, were once again let down by their bowling and this time their fielding made matters a lot worse. They will have to really pull up their socks before their next encounter against Guyana on Thursday the 16th of September and another defeat in that match will more or less bring down the curtains on their semi-final hopes.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Shikhar Dhawan, Sachin Tendulkar (capt.), Ambati Rayudu (wk), JP Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Ali Murtaza

South Australia Redbacks: Michael Klinger (capt.), Daniel Harris, Graham Manou (wk), Callum Ferguson, Daniel Christian, Cameron Borgas, Tom Cooper, Aaron O'Brien, Cullen Bailey, Gary Putland, Shaun Tait

Mini Scorecard

Mumbai Indians 180 for 7 (20 overs, 9.00 rpo)
S Tiwary 44 (25)            A O'Brien 2-49
A Rayudu 38 (32)          G Putland 1-24

South Australia Redbacks 182 for 5 (19.3 overs, 9.33 rpo)
Harris 56 (37)                 L Malinga 2-22
M Klinger 50 (48)          A Murtaza 2-29

File Photograph Copyright: Michael Henn

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