September 19, Durban: On the 21st of April, Mumbai found themselves advancing to their first ever IPL final after they trounced RCB by 35 runs, with a certain T&T native Kieron Pollard walking away with Man-of the-Match honours. Today, it was the turn of another T&T native Dwayne Bravo to win the Man-of-the-match award. The result, like on that IPL night, went in Mumbai’s favour. But with RCB still set to play an all important Group B game against Highveld Lions, and MI having the lowest net run rate between the three teams, a progress to the next stage is not the case this time around.
The last time these two sides squared off was in the IPL 2010 semi-finals and today’s match had an uncanny similarity to the course of events in that game.
Sachin Tendulkar, like in the IPL semi-final, won the toss and opted to bat first. However, Mumbai were put on the back foot from the very beginning. Kumble made some inspiring moves as captain, having the Kumars, Praveen and Vinay, open the bowling. The results were immediate. Tendulkar fell to Praveen and Ambati Rayudu fell to Vinay in successive overs and with only 36 runs coming in the first six overs, RCB had landed the early advantage.
Shikhar Dhawan batted steadily for a 37-ball 41 but got out just when Mumbai were beginning to pin their hopes of a resurgence on the left-hander. Dale Steyn claimed Shikhar’s wicket and looked a totally different bowler after the hiding he received at the hands of the Redbacks in the previous game. He had Pollard out caught by Ross Taylor soon after Dhawan’s wicket and at 84 for 5 in 12.3 overs, Mumbai’s score was not too dissimilar from their score in the semi-final (77 for 4 in 9.3 overs).
Then came the stand that put Mumbai right back in the game. Saurabh Tiwary and Dwayne Bravo put on 64 runs for the sixth wicket, with Anil Kumble and Jacques Kallis bearing the brunt of the duo’s stay at the crease. By the end of their allotted 20 overs, Mumbai had scored 165 with Tiwary (38 not out) and Bravo (29 off 17) being the chief architects of Mumbai’s comeback. In the IPL semi-final Tiwary had struck a 67-run partnership first with Rayudu and then a 40-run partnership for the sixth wicket to put Mumbai back in the hunt.
RCB started well with Dravid driving and pulling Zaheer Khan to get his side off to a good start. Mumbai had made one change to their squad for this match, Abu Nachim coming in in place of Ali Murtaza. And when Sachin introduced Nachim into the attack in the sixth over, the move paid off as Nachim had Kallis trapped LBW. Bravo then had Robin Uthappa and Ross Taylor out caught, the RCB batsmen trying to hit the all-rounder out of the ground leaving the innings wobbling at 72 for 3 in 10.1 overs.
Dravid, meanwhile, rolled back the years and kept the scoreboard moving. The Indian batting legend played every ball on its merit. Harbhajan was driven to the mid-on fence, while Zaheer Khan was flicked to the deep square leg boundary. His half-century came off just 39 deliveries and RCB were well within sight of the target, with 70 required from the last seven overs.
Virat Kohli, who came in at the fall of Cameron White’s wicket, then played a blinder of an innings. Abu Nachim was hit into the stands on the leg side, while Lasith Malinga was smashed for three consectutive boundaries in the nineteenth over.
With RCB requiring 12 runs to win from the last over and the threat of yet another Super Over looming large, Tendulkar threw the ball to Zaheer Khan. A couple of fours followed Kohli’s bat but with three required to win from the last ball, the young lad miscued a low full toss from Khan and was caught by Rayudu, the wicketkeeper taking a swirler under the Durban lights.
Brief Scores – Mumbai Indians 165 for 7 (Shikhar Dhawan 41, Saurabh Tiwary 38, Dale Steyn 3-26) beat
Royal Challengers Bangalore 163 for 5 (Rahul Dravid 71*, Virat Kohli 47, Dwayne Bravo 2-23) by 2 runs
Man-of-the-match – Dwayne Bravo for his all-round performance of 29 runs off 17 balls and 2 for 32 in 4 overs
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