The fifth edition of the IPL, which began in tepid fashion, finally had a nail-biter as Rohit Sharma hit the last ball of the match for six to seal a thrilling finish for Mumbai Indians against Deccan Chargers, who fought tooth and nail while defending 139. Daniel Christian, not the wisest choice for the final over, as very recent history tells us, dished out two full tosses to Rohit. One of them was off the final ball, which was dispatched over long-on to spark wild celebrations.
The Chargers were still favourites with 18 to defend off the last over. Kumar Sangakkara had bowled out his best bowler, Dale Steyn, leaving the final task with Christian. The first ball was smashed by James Franklin past long-off for four; the second down the same region; the batsmen sneaked a bye off the third; the fourth was a high full toss slammed by Rohit Sharma over deep backward point. With five needed off two, the penultimate ball was forced to long-off and Rohit Sharma timed his dive just in time to survive a run-out appeal. Christian couldn’t come up with anything special, gifting Rohit Sharma the most hittable delivery of the over, breaking the hearts of the home fans who saw their side slip to a second straight defeat.
Fortunes kept oscillating in the final overs, but for most periods in the chase, the Chargers were in control.
Scores: Mumbai Indians 142 for 5 (Rohit 73*, Steyn 3-12) beat Deccan Chargers 138 for 9 (Dhawan 41, Christian 39, Munaf 4-20) by five wickets.
