IPL5: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians - Match Recap - Dwayne Smith's heroics take Mumbai home in a last-ball thriller
Dwayne Smith played a whirlwind cameo of 24 runs from just 9 balls to steer Mumbai Indians to a thrilling last ball win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their return leg Indian Premier League match, played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on
Sunday, May 6, 2012.
Chasing a competitive 174-run target, the Mumbai Indians needed four runs off the final delivery, with their West Indies import Dwayne Smith facing lanky Australia pacer Ben Hilfenhaus. Keeping his nerves in the tense situation, the Barbadian smashed the
ball straight down the ground for a boundary to take the hosts to a two-wicket win over Dhoni and men.
After losing opener James Franklin in the third over of their chase, with the scoreboard reading just 8, Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma provided the side with an impressive launch pad, sharing a three-digit stand for the second-wicket partnership. The
partnership was worth 126 when Ravichandran Ashwin broke it, having Tendulkar caught at cover by Faf du Plessis in the 16th over. The Master Blaster scored 74 runs from 44 balls, including 11 muscular boundaries and a six.
The next three overs saw Mumbai losing five wickets for 24 runs, as they slipped from 134 for 1 to 158 for 7. the hosts needed 16 runs off the final over to win and 14 runs off the final three deliveries. The West Indies right-handed batsman showed nerves,
plundering a six and two successive boundaries to bag his side an improbable 2-wicket win over the two-time IPL champions.
Ben Hilfenhaus, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja shared two wickets each, while Ravichandran Ashwin accounted for Tendulkar only. Albie Morkel turned out to be the most expensive bowler for Chennai, conceding runs at an economy rate of over eleven.
Earlier, after winning the toss, the Mumbai skipper, Harbhajan Singh, had put the tourists into bat, maintaining he was unsure how the wicket would play. But it turned out to a good sporting wicket, with assistance for both batsmen and bowlers.
Opener Murali Vijay top scored for Chennai with a 29-ball 41. The other big contributors for the tourists included Dwayne Bravo (33-ball 40), Suresh Raina (21-ball 36) and skipper MS Dhoni (15-ball 25). With Dhoni and Bravo looting boundaries from both the
ends, it looked like Super Kings would set a huge total, but Lasith Malinga and RP Singh scythed through CSK’s middle and lower order to restrict the tourists to 173 for 8 in the end.
Slinga Malinga once again returned as the most successful bowler for Mumbai with 3 for 25 in his quota of four overs. RP Singh also claimed three scalps conceding 28 runs in four overs.
Dwayne Smith was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his match winning cameo.