Daniel Vettori scalped Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard in his successive overs as Mumbai Indians continued to struggle in the second qualifying final of IPL 4 at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Vettori first had Rohit caught by Luke Pomersbach at sweeper cover and one ball later trapped Rayudu plumb in front of the wicket for a first ball duck.
Abhimanyu Mithun took a superb one-handed catch at long-on to dismiss Pollard in Vettori’s next over. Zaheer Khan then clean bowled James Franklin to reduce Mumbai to 99/7 and ending all their hopes of a fightback.
Left-arm spinner Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad had captain Sachin Tendulkar stumped by AB de Villiers to reduce Mumbai to 68/3 in 8 overs.
Tendulkar charged down the pitch but was beaten by the delivery that turned sharply and the Master was in no position to negotiate the sharp turn and AB de Villiers removed the bails in a flash. Tendulkar hit 7 fours in his 24-ball 40 before falling to Syed. Sreenath Aravind dismissed Aiden Blizzard and Harbhajan Singh in his successive overs as Mumbai got off to a poor start.
Aravind first had Blizzard caught by Mayank Agarwal at long-on and in his next over had Harbhajan caught by Luke Pomersbach at deep mid-wicket. Blizzard hit 2 fours in his 11-ball 10 while pinch-hitter Harbhajan hit a six and a four in his 7-ball 13. Earlier, Chris Gayle’s 47-ball 89 and Mayank Agarwal’s 31-ball 41 powered Bangalore to 185/4. AB de Villiers hit a six in his unbeaten 15-ball 21.
Gayle smashed 89 runs off 47 balls before Munaf Patel had him caught by James Franklin at long-on.
Gayle’s blitzkrieg knock was studded with 5 sixes and 9 fours ad he was lloking good for more before Munaf struck in the 15th over. Bangalore lost their third wicket in the next over when Virat Kohli edged a Abu Nechim delivery onto his stumps. Munaf struck again in his next over when Lasith Malinga took a superb diving catch at short third-man to dismiss Luke Pomersbach. Gayle reached his half-century off 27 balls and was ably aided by his opening partner Mayank Agarwal as the two brought up Bangalore’s 100 in the ninth over after brining up the 50 in the fourth over.
