Life and T20s can be cruel. One match’s star can be reduced to a villain the next day.

Dwayne Bravo, who defended 12 off his last over and gave away only three runs in the win against Rajasthan Royals in Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) previous game at home, leaked 29 runs off his final over against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. (Full scorecard)

That over swung the momentum of the match as the hosts finished on 170/5 – a total that looked out of their reach at the end of the 19th over. In the end, it also proved enough for Mumbai Indians to break CSK’s three-game unbeaten streak in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season and romp home with a37-run victory before the home crowd.

The big-hitting Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard were the tormentors of Bravo in the final over. While Pollard started the slaughter by hitting one to the top tier of the Sunil Gavaskar Pavilion over deep square leg, Pandya gave the finishing touch by hitting six, four and six off the last three balls. The all-rounder even produced a helicopter shot that sailed over the stands.

The batsmen had taken 16 runs off the 19th over bowled by Shardul Thakur, a Mumbai bowler playing in his home ground. Their unbroken stand in the end was worth 45 off 12 balls.

CSK never recovered from that onslaught and could muster only 133 for eight. Australia left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff, playing his first game for Mumbai Indians, made an impact in the very first over. He forced Ambati Rayudu to edge an off-cutter that bounced awkwardly, to be caught behind by Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. He also got rid of Suresh Raina and finished with two for 22 from four overs. At the other end, Lasith Malinga had Shane Watson caught by a leaping Pollard at point and CSK were in tatters at 33 for three in five overs.

MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav then steadied the CSK’s ship with a 54-run stand for the fourth wicket before the CSK skipper smashed one straight into the hands of Suryakumar Yadav at square leg off Hardik while trying to up the ante. Hardik removed Ravindra Jadeja too in the same over to underline his all-round value. Jadhav continued to fight hard from one end but once he nicked behind to de Kock off Malinga after scoring a 54-ball 58, only formalities were left. Pandya and Malinga finished with three wickets apiece.

SURYA SHINES

Earlier, asked to bat, Mumbai Indians had a poor start when de Kock fell in the third over after miscuing a pull against paceman Deepak Chahar to Kedar Jadhav. Suryakumar Yadav came in and revived the home team’s innings with a sublime half-century (59, 43b). He started by taking back-to-back boundaries off Mumbai teammate Shardul Thakur in the fourth over.

In the next over bowled by Chahar, Surya was even more aggressive as he hit three consecutive fours off Chahar -- the first piercing the gap between cover and mid-off, the second hit through mid-on and the third past midwicket.

Rohit Sharma didn’t last, nicking behind the stumps off Ravindra Jadeja. The dismissal also saw the involvement of the third umpire who found Suresh Raina blocking the view from deep point while checking for a front-foot no ball. It drew cheers from the Mumbai Indians’ fans. However, the on-field decision stayed after it became evident from another other angle that some part of Jadeja’s heel was behind the crease when he landed.

Yuvraj Singh played brilliantly in the last match on this ground but this time he lasted for only six balls before his attempt to clear the long-off fence against Imran Tahir was thwarted by a leaping Raina, who caught the ball just away from the rope.

Krunal gave good support to Surya, scoring 42 off 32 balls. The duo put together 62 runs for the fourth wicket, providing a platform for Pollard and Hardik to go after the bowling in the last two overs.

First Published: Apr 04, 2019 00:26 IST