Little-known Anand Rajan grabbed two key wickets to help bottom-placed Deccan Chargers shock third-placed Mumbai Indians by 10 runs in an Indian Premier League match on Saturday. The seamer removed skipper Sachin Tendulkar and hard-hitting Kieron Pollard as Mumbai finished at 125-8 chasing a modest 136-run target to suffer their fourth defeat in 12 games of the Twenty20 tournament. In another match, West Indies opener Chris Gayle smashed a 12-ball 38 as Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a four-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.Bangalore made sure of a place in the semi-finals with 17 points.
They are followed by Chennai (16), Mumbai (16), Kolkata (14), Rajasthan (11), Punjab (10), Kochi (10), Pune (eight), Deccan (eight) and Delhi (eight). Mumbai needed 26 to win in the last over but managed only 15 as Anand dismissed West Indies all-rounder Pollard (24 off 13 balls) with his fourth delivery. Tendulkar’s Mumbai were under pressure after being reduced to 25-3 in the opening 5.3 overs, with paceman Ishant Sharma taking two wickets. Rajan, playing his first IPL match, then got two wickets in one over, including that of Tendulkar who top-scored with 37. Mumbai paceman Dhawal Kulkarni grabbed three wickets to restrict Deccan, with Shikhar Dhawan (27 not out), skipper Kumar Sangakkara (27) and Sunny Sohal being the main scorers.
Mumbai seamer Munaf Patel, who conceded 23 runs in the last over, and Deccan batsman Amit Mishra exchanged words. Mishra hit the bowler for four successive boundaries in the over. Gayle earlier hit two sixes and six fours as Bangalore achieved a rain-revised target of 102 with three balls to spare in a 13-overs-a-side game. He started aggressively, hitting Australian paceman Brett Lee for four boundaries in the opening over and then cracking two successive sixes in the next over bowled by seamer Jaidev Unadkat. He fell in the third over attempting a big shot, caught by Jacques Kallis off Lee. Kallis took two wickets for 16 runs in three overs. Yusuf Pathan top-scored for Kolkata with 36, adding 53 for the fourth wicket with Manoj Tiwary (19 not out). He hit three sixes and two fours in his 24-ball knock.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 89-4 in 13 overs (Y. Pathan 36; C. Langeveldt 2-10) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 105-6 in 12.3 overs (C. Gayle 38; J. Kallis 2-16) by four wickets (D/L method).
Deccan Chargers 135-6 in 20 overs (S. Dhawan 27 not out, K. Sangakkara 27, S. Sohal 20; D. Kulkarni 3-26) beat Mumbai Indians 125-8 in 20 overs (S. Tendulkar 37, K. Pollard 24; A. Rajan 3-27, I. Sharma 2-30) by 10 runs.
