Harbhajan Singh turned out to be a sensational game changer with the bat and ball, and won a match on his own steam. His explosive knock — that yielded virtually all of the eighth-wicket stand of 53 runs — and his early dismissal of Adam Gilchrist — off his second ball, the edge held with by Sachin Tendulkar at slip — set up Mumbai Indians' comprehensive 41-run win over Deccan Chargers in the presence of a sell-out crowd at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here on Sunday.
It was Mumbai Indians' fifth win from sixth matches.
Having reducing Mumbai Indians to 97 for six by the 14th over, Chargers had placed itself in a commanding position.
Until the start of the last five overs, Kemar Roach had impressed with pace and bounce, but without getting a scalp. And seamer R.P. Singh and spinner Pragyan Ojha had keept it tight, picking up five wickets between them.
The Mumbai Indians, cantering at nine an over at the end of the seventh over, had declined to just a little over five.
Batting first after winning the toss, Mumbai Indians lost opener Shikhar Dhawan early, trapped in front by Jaskaran Singh, perhaps softened by a blow on the thumb of his bottom hand off a short ball from Roach.
Meanwhile, Tendulkar found his rhythm and was playing Jaskaran confidently off the front foot.
Dwayne Bravo, promoted to No.3 to deal with the pace bowlers, struck straightaway and Mumbai Indians advanced at a terrific clip before the West Indian fell to R.P. Singh.
After that, wickets fell in a heap, and when Tendulkar fell in the 17th over, Chargers seemed to be in full control.
Then came the Harbhajan Singh show. He began with an on-side six off Andrew Symonds, followed it with a straight hit four and then battered a Roach over for 19 runs.
With Jaskaran grounded for sending down two beamers, Rohit Sharma bowled the last over and suffered at the hands of the rampaging Harbhajan; he gave away 20 runs.
Thanks to Harbhajan's blistering innings (49, 18b, 8x4, 2x6), Mumbai Indians set the Chargers a target of 173.
It was only on Saturday evening that Harbhajan had expressed hope at a press conference that it would be a smooth affair against the Chargers.
That was not to be; but, the good news was, he ended up playing a huge part in an extraordinary win.
The scores: Mumbai Indians: S. Dhawan lbw b Jaskaran 8 (12b, 2x4) , S. Tendulkar c Gilchrist b R.P. Singh 55 (43b, 9x4) , D. Bravo c Symonds b R.P. Singh 23 (16b, 3x4, 1x6) , S. Tiwary c Gilchrist b R.P. Singh 4 (3b, 1x4) , A. Rayudu st. Gilchrist b Ojha 6 (7b) , R. Sathish c Suman b Ojha 3 (5b) , K. Pollard, c Suman b Jaskaran 1 (5b) , R. McLaren not out 13 (15b, 1x4) , Harbhajan Singh not out 49 (18b, 8x4, 2x6) , Extras (b-1, nb-4,w-5) 10; Total (for seven in 20 overs) 172.
Fall of wkts: 1-24, 2-64, 3-68, 4-84, 5-92, 6-93, 7-119.
Chargers bowling: Roach 4-0-32-0, Jaskaran 3-0-30-2, Ojha 4-0-24-2, R.P. Singh 4-0-31-3, Symonds 4-0-40-0, Rohit 1-0-14-0.
Deccan Chargers: A. Gilchrist c Tendulkar b Harbhajan 0 (2b) , M. Mishra c McLaren b Malinga 13 (12b, 1x4, 1x6) , H. Gibbs c Pollard b Zaheer 27 (16b, 3x4, 2x6) , A. Symonds c Bravo b Malinga 1 (6b) , R. Sharma b Zaheer 45 (28b, 3x4, 2x6) , T. Suman c&b Harbhajan 15 (17b, 1x6) , V. Rao c McLaren b Pollard 7 (9b, 1x4) , Jaskaran Singh c sub b Harbhajan 1 (2b) , K. Roach b Zaheer 10 (9b, 1x4) , R.P. Singh b Malinga 1 (5b) , P. Ojha not out 0, Extras (b-2, lb-5,w-4) 11; Total (in 17.4 overs) 131.
Fall of wkts: 0-1, 2-47, 3-49,4-50, 5-81, 6-100, 7-116, 8-130, 9-131.
Indians bowling: Harhajan 4-0-31-3, McLaren 3-0-24-0, Zaheer Khan 3-0-21-3, Malinga 3.4-0-12-3, Bravo 2-0-16-0, Pollard 2-0-20-1.
