Skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front as Mumbai Indians registered a comfortable five-wicket win over Pune Warriors at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here on Saturday.
The visitors were in trouble at 39/3 before Sharma (37, 41 balls, 3x4) and Ambati Rayudu (26, 23 balls, 2x4, 1x6) added 54 runs for the fourth wicket to take their side closer to the 113-run target. Harbhajan Singh sealed the deal by hitting a boundary off Kane Richardson. For the record, Mumbai have 18 points from 13 matches and are second on the points table. Pune (four points from 13 games) remain at the bottom after their ninth consecutive defeat.
Earlier, Mitchell Johnson called the shots with brilliant figures of 2/8. He was rightfully adjudged Man of the Match. Lasith Malinga and Abu Nechim Ahmed, too, did well by picking up two wickets each. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also came to the party with impressive figures of 4-0-14-1. He got the better of Yuvraj Singh, who top-scored for the hosts (33, 29 balls, 1x4, 2x6).
Mumbai were off to an awful start, losing opener Dwayne Smith off the very first delivery bowled by Ashok Dinda. Sachin Tendulkar collected a few boundaries before mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis had the maestro caught at long-on. The Sri Lankan unleashed the carrom ball and Tendulkar tried to chip it back over the bowler’s head. But he ended up closing the face of the bat and the ball landed straight in the hands of Manish Pandey.
Dinesh Karthik was the next to go, the right-hander slog-sweeping a Yuvraj delivery straight to Pandey. And by the time Rayudu fell, Mumbai were exactly 20 runs away from victory. Dinda had him caught at deep square-leg.
Glenn Maxwell, whose contract is worth a million dollars, got his first game of the IPL. The Aussie carted Dinda for a four and six to level the scores. Sharma was disappointed after he was dismissed with Mumbai at the doorstep of victory. Harbhajan finished things off with a four as Mumbai won with seven deliveries to spare.
“It is good to be in the side making your debut and winning the match,” Maxwell said. On the other hand, Pune skipper Aaron Finch blamed the batsmen. “It was the top order and some players in the middle order who let us down.”Brief Scores: Pune Warriors 112/8 in 20 overs
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