It was one more cliff-hanger, 16th match of IPL 2012 that saw a final over finish. Pune required 12 runs it was a brilliant last over from Munaf Patel as Pune in spite of all the hard work, destroy short by just 1 run. Mumbai were protecting a paltry total of 120 runs and Pune required 27 runs off the last three overs as Ganguly was bowled off the last delivery of the 17th over bowled by Malinga. It was some excellent bowling by Lasith Malinga in the death overs as Mumbai managed to pull out victory in the last ball of the innings. Through 8 required from 2 balls.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar slammed the second to last delivery over wide of long-on for a boundary, however he could not exploit on the last ball which was a full-toss and could work it just for a couple. Mumbai have currently tried seven opening combinations in the last ten matches. In this match, Tendulkar along with James Franklin added 50 runs for the first wicket from where they buckled like a pack of cards.
Tendulkar earlied played a maiden from Ashok Dinda and rewarded for it by scoring three boundaries in his next over. Nehra scalped Tendulkar’s wicket in the 12th over and Mumbai innings derailed from that point and there were four run-outs to add to Mumbai’s batting anguishes.Towards the end Mumbai batsmen found it really complicated to find gaps and there was a time when Mumbai didn’t score a boundary for almost seven overs. Nehra was inspiring in his second spell and he picked up two wickets for just 19 runs in his allocation of 4 overs.
Pune had done really well to contain Mumbai to 120 and it was a good chance for them to end their losing streak. Robin Uthappa who scored 18 runs was out in the fourth over bowled in Munaf Patel. Chasing the paltry total, Pune were always after the required run-rate and Harbhajan Singh led from the front as he picked up two wickets for just 18 runs. Michael Clarke (14) decomposed to a contentious lbw decision and Steven Smith who has been constant for Pune in this season was bowled by Ojha for just 2 runs that came as a big blow for the home team.
Captain Ganguly played 24 balls for his 16 and he was out just when Pune required him to hit some big strokes. Mithun Manhas was the pick of Pune batsmen as he remained winning on 42 runs from 34 balls. He scored boundaries at critical intervals, but failed to exchange it into a match-winning knock as he received no support from any other batsman. He scored most of his shots on the off-side and a few boundaries which he scored towards deep toward the back point were delightful to watch.
Mumbai in spite of this win, never looked in huge touch and apart from the opening partnership, the batting performance was average. The bowlers clicked as a unit and they conquered right through the second innings as Pune succumbed to the difficulty. Apart from Malinga and Harbhajan who picked up two wickets each, Munaf Patel too controlled the runs and bowled a match-winning last over.
Summarized Scores:
Mumbai Indians 120-9
SR Tendulkar 34(35) B Kumar 2-9
JEC Franklin 25(23)
A Nehra 2-19
Pune Warriors India 119-6
M Manhas* 42(34) Harbhajan Singh 2-18
RV Uthappa 18(18) SL Malinga 2-25
Man of the Match:
SL Malinga (MI)
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