Deccan derail Mumbai by 10 runs

Kieron Pollard's cameo in the end wasn't enough as Mumbai Indians slumped to a 10-run loss ufffd their second in a row.

Deccan derail Mumbai by 10 runs

The Disc Jockey (DJ) kept playing the popular Black Eyed Peas track 'Tonight's gonna be a good night', hoping Mumbai Indians would qualify for the play-offs in emphatic fashion after restricting Deccan Chargers to 135-6 in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. But in the end, it turned out to be Deccan's night.

Kieron Pollard's cameo in the end wasn't enough as Mumbai Indians slumped to a 10-run loss ufffd their second in a row. Deccan's Ishant Sharma fully justified his comeback to the Indian team with an impressive performance. The lanky pacer finished with 4-0-30-2.

Ishant Sharma celebrated his return to the Indian team with an
impressive spell of 4-0-30-2. pic/suresh kk

He bowled a tight line and length, and was successful in generating pace and bounce on a slow Wankhede track. He was spot on in getting consistent performers Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma quickly to silence the Wankhede crowd.

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar (37) and T Suman (14) tried reviving MI's fortunes as the two paced their innings smartly, but Nagpur lad Anand Rajan's two wickets in the 15th over left the crowd numb again.

Soon after Mumbai Indians' T Suman was dismissed, chants of 'Pollard Pollard' started to takeover the stadium.

Pollard did not disappoint and hit a quickfire 24 off 13 balls, providing some entertainment for the crowd in the end. The big-hitting West Indian slammed three fours and a six and looked poised to take the game away from Deccan, but Rajan (3-27) dismissed him in the final over.

Earlier, the 33,000 capacity crowd at Wankhede was enthralled with a first-ball blow by Lasith Malinga, getting rid of Deccan opener Michael Lumb. The Sri Lankan pacer was again the most impressive of the MI lot. The crowd loved watching his slinging yorkers. He finished with 1-17, deserving at least a couple of more wickets ufffd one fell short of Harbhajan Singh and T Suman dropped a lollypop. Dhaval Kulkarni impressed with 3-26, which included the dangerous Deccan skipper Kumar Sangakkara.u00a0u00a0u00a0 The IPL II champions found the going tougher as Mumbai Indians bowlers literally choked their batsmen. Deccan couldn't score a boundary in 23 balls ufffd a rarity in the T20 format.

Deccan could well have been restricted below 120 runs, but Munaf Patel's temper cost Mumbai too much in the last over.