Mumbai will have been disappointed with their showing from that game and were desperate to make amends, they have the players to beat anyone on their day and all they need is a few players in form. However, Hussey won the toss and decided to have a bat first, despite the fact that every side chasing in Mohali has won, on a wicket offering something for batting and bowling. KXIP's latest opening stand is beginning to provide some of the stability that they've been lacking so far and Mandeep Singh (22 from 16) and Saini (17 from 22) got them off to a solid if unspectacular start. They took advantage of some poor Mumbai bowling, generally pitching it too short, with boundaries hit regularly either side of square. I've been really impressed with Mandeep Singh so far this year, seemingly in the Dravid role in that he times the ball sweetly at the start but then tends to struggle when the field is sent back, but he fell in the last over of the powerplay edging a short, wide ball through to the keeper, to leave KXIP at 44/1 after 6 overs. MI returned from the time-out a much better side, Patel bowling an excellent 7th over to Marsh, pitching up around off stump for a maiden. The pressure that this created helped McKay send back Saini in the next over and a spell of a few quiet overs of accumulation between Hussey and Marsh, who struggled to get going today, was ended as Franklin got Marsh to hole out in the 13th over leaving Punjab at 80/3 and not in a particularly strong position to kick on with a new man in.
Hussey and Miller had other ideas as they put on what I thought would be the match turning partnership, putting on an unbeaten 89 from just 43 balls to put Punjab in the driving seat. Hussey is the most prolific batsman in 20/20 cricket and is experience showed today, placing the ball in gaps and running well through the middle overs before kicking on at the end. McKay and Patel bowled some good yorkers in the death overs but whenever slightly off length they were punished, Hussey (68* from 40) hit one glorious pick up over long off for six that McKay could only smile at and admire. Miller (34* from 17) also showed his power, hitting the final 2 balls of the innings over midwicket for 6 to take KXIP to 168/3. RP Singh was probably the pick of the bowlers in terms of figures (1-27), but McKay also impressed, Hussey ruining his figures late on. I wasn't convinced with Harbajahn's use of his bowlers today, using a total of 7 bowlers which seemed unnecessary, especially given how under-utilised the debutant Peterson was, bowling a solitary over that went for 3 runs. Punjab's late surge had put them well and truly on top, especially against a mis-firing MI batting line-up.
Franklin and Tendulkar got Mumbai off to a steady start in reply without taking many risks. Kumar bowled well again without reward, he really must be due some wickets soon, as MI reached 40/0 at the end of the powerplay, plenty of wickets in hand but an ever-rising required rate. The spell from Azhar Mahmood swung the match back in KXIP's favour, sending back both openers (Tendulkar 34 & Franklin 22) who were deceived by some seam movement to be caught behind. This brought in two new men who were immediately confronted with a required rate of approaching 10 and a win looked very distant at the end of 11 overs as Karthik was sent back by Chawla with the score at 66/3, and Pollard fell not long after. The chase was mainly achieved on the back of Sharma and Rayudu, two of Mumbai's most important players last year who have yet to really kick start their 2012 seasons. Rohit was making batting look exceptionally easy, as he does when playing well, which makes it so confusing as to why he enters such poor slumps in form. He stroked 50 from 30 balls, including 3 well struck maximums, at which point he fell to Awana in the 18th over to put the game back in Punjab's hands, MI needing 32 from the last 2 overs. But then up stepped Rayudu and Peterson (16* from 7), who almost went under-used with the bat as well, to turn the game on its head in the 19th over. Chawla was thrown the ball, bowling a leg spinner at the death is always going to be a gamble no matter how good they are, and he was carted for 27 runs from the bats of both players in a show of superb hitting, Rayudu (34* from 17 and MoM) smashing the final 2 deliveries over long off and long on to virtually seal the game. Perhaps Hussey will wish he had bowled the 19th over himself, his off spin darts may have been more difficult to hit than Chawla's leggies but Peterson was middling it from ball one and looked set to hit any ball to the boundary. Rayudu hit Mahmood for a boundary in the final over to get the win, not Mumbai's first incredible come-back to win a last over thriller.
Punjab will be extremely disappointed to have lost, especially having been the better side for the majority of the contest. Mumbai possess so many match winners in their side to the point where they can never be counted out of a contest and that was the case today. Not many would have backed Mumbai at the half way mark in their innings but Sharma, Rayudu and Peterson all played an important part in getting them over the line. Mahmood bowled well (3.5-23-2) and, along with Hussey and Miller's partnership, looked set to take Punjab over the line. Even having gained the win, Mumbai probably still have more issues than Punjab, mainly that their bowling looks nowhere near as strong without Malinga and their batting is still inconsistent. That said, a big win for them and a real let-off, Punjab probably should have won it and will rue that 19th over.
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