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Mumbai Indian’s bowling came alive at their home ground on Monday as the batsmen guided their team to a 7 wicket win against the visiting Pune Warriors despite a last minute scare. The Pune batting was taken apart by Abu Nechim Ahmed and Munaf Patel as the visitors were bundled out for 118 in 17.2 overs. Aided by a steady third wicket partnership Mumbai just about crossed the line on the last ball of the match to claim second spot in the IPL points table.

Two of the tournament’s top teams met on a dry looking Wankhede pitch on Wednesday for what promised to be a thrilling encounter. Pune won the toss and decided to bat first much to the delight of the Mumbai Indians who were keen to chase after having realized that close to 190 was not enough in their last encounter. An out of form Graeme Smith was dropped for the Warriors with young Aussie keeper Tim Paine handed his IPL debut, also left-arm spinner Murali Karthik returned to the side in place of the batting allrounder Abhishek Jhunjhunwala. Mumbai also made a couple of changes with wicketkeeper batsman Davy Jacobs losing his place in the side after a couple of failures with the bat. James Franklin came in for the South African, while Abu Nechim Ahmed replaced the injured Harbhajan Singh.

Ali Murtaza started well for Mumbai while Laisth Malinga surprisingly wasn't at his best in the opening few overs of the Pune innings. Abu Nechim Ahmed and Munaf Patel decided it was time they showed Mumbai’s bowling was not just Slinga and the Stooges. Ahmed made the best of this rare opportunity to impress, striking twice in his very first over to remove the dangerous looking Jesse Ryder (12 of 15) and Mithun Manhas (golden duck). After Nechim’s double, it was time for Munaf’s double. He struck twice in the space of three balls removing debutant Paine and captain Yuvraj Singh for 2 and 0, respectively. The Pune innings was in dire straits at 17/4 and Robin Uthappa who joined Monish Mishra were Pune’s last hope.

Uthappa waged a lone battle with Mishra and then Karthik keeping him company for brief periods. But the Mumbai bowlers, to their credit, kept chipping away, taking wickets regularly. Murtaza claimed the wickets of Mishra and Uthappa (after a brave 45 off 37) while Malinga returned to dismiss Murali Karthik and then Shrikant Wagh.

Having been the most expensive bowler for Mumbai, James Franklin claimed a consolation wicket while Munaf returned in the 18^th over to wrap up proceeding 2.4 overs early with Pune stranded at 118. Whether 118 was good enough or not remained to be seen, but the splendid Mumbai attack certainly looked to have demoralised the opposition. Munaf Patel finished with 3/8 in 2.2 overs and is shaping up to be a brilliant limited overs bowler. Malinga, Murtaza and Ahmed all pitched in with two wickets a piece.

James Franklin, slightly surprisingly pushed up the order to open the innings, continued to have a poor match as he was dismissed by Wagh in the second over of the Mumbai innings. Predictably, Pune failed to break the fortress Tendulkar and Rayudu started to build for Mumbai. In typical style, they started to build a partnership that was perfectly paced to suit the required run rate. That way, they did not take risks but the scoreboard kept ticking at above 6.

After some brilliant strike rotation and intelligent batting, it finally happened. Sachin Tendulkar holed out in the deep to a Rahul Sharma variation after a diligent 35 off 39, Mumbai though were still comfortably placed at 83/2. But as luck would have it, Alfonso Thomas returned the very next over to remove Rayudu who was looking to up the scoring rate. He made 37 from 40 balls. That dismissal brought the former Deccan Chargers' IPL winning combination of Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma together for the first time this series. Their job was just to avoid the collapse and the rest would take care of itself.

Symonds exploded twice in the eighteenth over but some controlled bowling by Pune and overly coautious batting by Sharma and Symonds brought the equation down to 5 of 6 balls. Murali Kartik bowled an outstanding final over, taking the equation down to one off one and a super over might have just been in store, but Sharma nonchalantly smashed a six off the last delivery to ensure the better team won. Sharma scored 20 off 18 and Symonds made 16 from 15 balls to take Mumbai over the finish line. Pune's bowling figures predictably made economical reading with Thomas, Wagh and Rahul Sharma picking up a wicket each.

Pune slip to the fourth place in the points table, leading a group of teams with four points, while Mumbai, who did not claim a net run rate advantage that was there for the taking have to settle for the second spot behind KKR. Mumbai have put up a performance that firmly establishes them as one of the best all round teams in this tournament. Pune must not lose heart and after an uneven performance with the bat, their bowlers showed a lot of heart and that’s a big positive for any new team.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar (c), Ambati Rayudu (wk), Andew Symonds, James Franklin, Kieron Pollard, Rajagopal Satish, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Ali Murtaza, Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga

Pune Warriors: Jesse Ryder, Tim Paine (wk), Mithun Manhas, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, M Mishra, Murali Kartik, Srikant Wagh, Wayne Parnell, Alfonso Thomas, Rahul Sharma.

Mini Scorecard:

Pune Warriors 118 all out (17.2 overs, 6.8rpo)
Robin Uthappa 45 (37) Munaf Patel 3-8
Rahul Sharma 13 (9) Abu Nechim Ahmed 2-13

Mumbai Indians 124/3 (20 overs, 6.2rpo)
Ambati Rayudu 37 (40) Shrikant Wagh 1-9
Sachin Tendulkar 35 (39) Rahul Sharma 1-14

Mumbai win by 7 wickets on the last ball

File Photograph Copyright: Gayatri Naik

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