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An exceptional bowling display of 5-18 by Harbhajan Singh led the Mumbai Indians to sole possession of top spot of the Indian Premier League table as they avenged their Season 3 Final defeat at the hands of the reigning Champions Chennai Super Kings by 8 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday night. Batting first, Mumbai posted a challenging total of 164 largely on the back of a superb 87 (48balls, 8*4s, 5*6s) from Rohit Sharma. Chennai were on top in the chase till the 12th over when Michael Hussey (41) and Subramaniam Badrinath (71*) were going strong. However, Hussey's dismissal at the hands of Lasith Malinga started the rout and Harbhajan ripped through the lower middle order to leave Badri waging a lone war. With 25 runs to get in the final over, the Tamil Nadu lad till well to score 16, but was never really in the hunt for a win.  

The two finalists of last season were up against each other at the Wankhede Stadium with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar on opposite ends once again. Both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were overhauled by Kochi Tuskers Kerala in recent weeks, but Mumbai has been the more consistent of the two sides. After some rain-affected matches dampening the spirit, the crowd was happy with a clear sky and a favorable forecast. Mumbai's middle order hadn't been tested thus far in the tournament and that was expected to change against a good bowling attack of Chennai. On the other hand, Lasith Malinga and Munaf Patel had been doing well for Mumbai and were expected to give the Chennai top order a run for their money.

Dhoni won the toss and decided to bowl with the dew already beginning to show at the time of the toss. The Mumbai Indians made one change bringing back Harbhajan Singh for Ali Murtaza, who effectively lost his place to Abu Nechim Ahmed, who bowled brilliantly in the last game. Chennai meanwhile made two changes trying to make the most of the local conditions. India's T20 World Cup hero Joginder Sharma was given his first game of the tournament and Suraj Randiv was back in the side for Kiwi seamer Tim Southee.

The opening pair of Mumbai Indians changed once again for this game as their search for the perfect partner for Sachin Tendulkar continues. Rajagopal Sathish was the latest attemptee to make the spot his own, but struggled to get bat on ball. Albie Morkel swung his way to a maiden to give his team a great start to the match. Doug Bollinger bowled a short one that went way over Sachin’s head for 5 wides and looked as if he was bowling on the bouncy track of Perth! The pressure of the early maiden was felt by Sathish, who fell for naught. Soon after, Tendulkar got a brilliant bouncer from Bollinger, which was too quick for him, getting rid of the little genius for just 5 as Mumbai slumped to 13/2. The crowd was silenced but they were up soon after as local boy Rohit Sharma smashed the first two balls he faced to the ropes. The ball was swinging still and Morkel was given a third over. Sharma though hit a six on the last ball of the powerplay to take the score to 40 at the end of 6 overs.

Morkel was bowled through and he finished his spell conceding just 19 in his 4 overs. The 50 for the team came up in the 8^th over as Ambati Rayadu and Rohit Sharma were rebuilding after the early blows. Both batsmen looked comfortable in the middle and Rohit Sharma was hitting everything from the sweet spot of the bat. The 50 partnership soon followed and was reached in just 34 balls as Chennai were on the backfoot briefly. Rayadu though gave them a chance to get back into the contest when he was stumped off Randiv after making 27 (29b). Andrew Symonds joined Sharma and it was time for him to produce something special. But it was Sharma who was doing the bulk of the scoring, scoring in boundaries. He reached his 50 with a six off Randiv which also took the innings past 100. Symonds hit his first boundary in the same over as Mumbai looked to up the intensity.

Five overs were left and with Keiron Pollard yet to come Mumbai were threatening to tear away from Chennai. Joginder Sharma was taken to the cleaners in the 16th over as Symonds deposited him in the stands while Sharma found the ropes twice as 17 runs came off the over. Bollinger came back into the attack and had bowled a near perfect over until Sharma smashed a massive six to spoil it at the end. Dhoni took a gamble by giving Raina the ball in the 19^th over and Sharma made them pay as he cleared the ropes twice in the over. The other balls which didn’t reach the boundary were falling safe between two fielders. Raina was taken for 22 and Dhoni would surely rue his decision. Rohit Sharma couldn’t get past Bollinger once again as he holed out on the ropes. Sharma’s innings ended for 87 and came off just 48 balls helping Mumbai to a solid total. Pollard and Symonds arguably two of the most dangerous batsmen in modern day cricket were kept quiet by Bollinger who conceded just 4 runs in the final over. Mumbai escaped a poor start to reach 164 in the 20 overs which looked a competitive total, but certainly not frightening.

Chennai got off to a good start in their reply, racing to 31 in under 21 balls before Murali Vijay (12) edged a beauty from Munaf Patel to Sharma at first slip. Tendulkar decided to venture spin against the twin left-handers - Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina - bringing on Abu Nechim Ahmed and Harbhajan Singh inside the powerplay. The move paid instant dividends when Raina fell caught and bowled to another outstanding delivery, this time from the returning Harbhajan Singh.

Hussey and Badrinath, the latter getting a chance at no.4 today, steadied the ship, picking up a boundary in every single over they shared the crease together to take the score on to 97/2 at the end of 11 overs. With 9 overs to play and only 68 required for the win, the game was Chennai's to lose. And they did.

Hussey and MS Dhoni, both fell to slowed deliveries, too early onto their shots and were snapped up by a couple of excellent catches by Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma respectively. The pressure was now on Chennai's middle order to see them home and Badrinath, who was batting on 36 from 22 balls to guide the ship. Badri fulfilled his side of the deal, but the rest of the middle order failed miserably.

Anirudha Srikanth (9), Albie Morkel (3), R Ashwin (0) and Joginder Sharma (0) all fell to the guile of Harbhajan as the offspinner took 4 wickets within the space of 7 deliveries. Malinga added a 5th, that of Lankan teammate Suraj Randiv for 2 to leave Chennai virtually out of the game at 140/9.

Some late hitting from Badrinath made the scoreboard indicate that the match was a lot closer than reality as Mumbai eased to their fourth win and 8 points. Tendulkar's team showed today that they could do it without the little master, and that should hold them in good stead over the rest of the tournament. It was also a good rare win for a team batting first in this tourney, and may encourage some of the stronger bowling units to play the match according to the merits of the track rather than always opt to chase.

Mumabi have just a day to celebrate the win as they are in action again on Sunday, this time on the road, away to the 2009 champions, the Deccan Chargers. Chennai have an extra day to look up the ladder from the bottom of the league before they take on an in-form Pune Warriors side at the considerably more friendly environs of the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (c), Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu (wk), James Franklin, Keiron Pollard, Andrew Symonds, Rajagopal Sathish, Harbhajan Singh, Abu Nechim , Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga.

Chennai Super Kings: Murali Vijay, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c&wk), Srikanth Anirudha, Albie Morkel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Joginder Sharma, Doug Bollinger, Suraj Randiv.

Mini Scorecard:

Mumbai Indians 164/4 (20 overs, 8.2 rpo)
Rahul Sharma 87 (48) D Bollinger 2-30
Andrew Symonds 31* (26) A Morkel 1-19

Chennai Super Kings 156/9 (20 overs, 7.8rpo)
Subramaniam Badrinath 71* (48) H Singh 5-18
Michael Hussey 41 (33) L Malinga 2-20

Mumbai win by 8 runs

File Photograph Copyright: Gayatri Naik

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