That wasn’t quite as thrilling a finish as we enjoyed earlier, but dearie me, there was plenty off which to buzz. Sehwag was wonderful up front and Bailey was composed at the end, before Sandeep Sharma and Mitchell Johnson squashed any hopes Mumbai had with superb use swing, seam and pace. And then, just when things appeared to be phutting to a predictable conclusion, Harbhajan set about things with a beautiful violence, in so doing drawing the announcement of an exciting new talent. Suchith had already bowled very nicely for debutant, for a spinner in particular, but the class of his strokeplay was equally noteworthy.
Anyway, thanks all for reading - we’ll be back with more tomorrow.
Punjab beat Mumbai by 18 runs.
19.6 Dot ball.
19.5 WICKET! Harbhajan c Sharma b Anureet 64
Harbhajan carves hard, to the point where, where he’s caught. But what an innings!
19.4 Good line from Anureet, wide outside off, and Harbhajan can only connect on the stretch - it’s a single.
19.3 And there’s one! Bhaji brings up the 100 partnership off 33 balls by picking up a slower ball miles outside leg and basing it into the crown at square-leg.
19.2 Six needed from each ball, and Anureet spears a yorker on off-stump, cracked for four - four sixes for an super over.
19.1 Anureet’s in, and Suchith drives a single to the cover fence.
19th over: Mumbai 148-6 (Suchith 33, Harbhajan 54) Are Punjab starting to worry? Suchith spots a fast, wide yorker and crunches it for four, then backs it up by sliding into one knee, marmalising six over long-on. And, oh yes! Four more, belted over cover; another brilliant talent introducing itself, what a day this has been! A single then gives Harbhajan the strike - the partnership is 87 off 34 - and another boundary is required. There’s a pause - Punjab are worried - and Patel manages a low full-toss, right up in the blockhole, which is banged down to long-off for one. A further single follows, and this requires something spectacular. Mumbai need 30 from 6 balls.
18th over: Mumbai 131-6 (Suchith 17, Harbhajan 53) Dhawan’s back and Harbhajan edges an aggravating two, before, post-wide, ramming a further, monstrous six - his fifth - miles back, over midwicket. It’s easy to say this is what the batsmen should’ve done, as Ravi sort of does, but the bowling was excellent in the opening period. And then, after a single each, Harbhajan stretches for a wide one, carving four to point and raising a fifty that’s come off just 19 deliveries, superb work. Mumbai need 47 from 12 deliveries.
17th over: Mumbai 116-6 (Suchith 16, Harbhajan 40) Anureet - remember him? - returns, with a leg-side wide. Then, after two well-directed dots, Harbhajan turns a yorker into a half-volley, clattering over long-on, and then hooking a further maximum over wide square-leg. Shots! So Anureet goes around the wicket, and Harbhajan just zetzes him flatter, taking a low full-toss off the pads and depositing it into the stands. 19 off the over.
16th over: Mumbai 96-6 (Suchith 16, Harbhajan 21) Johnson returns for his final over, and Harbhajan is ready for him, clouting six over cover. Next ball, he stretches and tries to bring it from well outside off around to leg via peculiar sweep - everyone experiences mirth - then adds a single. Next, oh, this is lovely: Suchith makes room, reveals all three stumps, and carves four through point, then plays and misses, then squirts six over long-on. That’s 17 runs off the over, and still Johnson’s figures are pretty, 2-23 off his four.
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15th over: Mumbai 79-6 (Suchith 6, Harbhajan 14) Wide and overpitched - exactly what Harbhajan’s after from Dhawan, and Harbhajan clumps him over mid-of for four. Throwing the bat again after a wide, he edges over the slip area for four more, then four more, cut to deep backward point. Dhawan comes back well, extracting enough extra bounce to induce a false shot, a cross-batter spooning into the air. The cee and bee is taken easily, but no ball is called, and Suchith, who looks like he can bat a bit, rubs things in by drilling four over mid-off.
14th over: Mumbai 60-6 (Suchith 2, Harbhajan 1) This has been a excellent, menacing bowling effort - other teams will be watching this and beginning to wonder.
WICKET! Pollard c Miller b Patel 20 (Mumbai 59-6)
Pollard takes a heave and finds Maxwell advancing in and around off the cover fence. He jack-knifes to try and sweep the ball up off the turf, gets there and spills it. Would’ve been a great snaffle, but one he would expect himself to take having got there. Then, next ball, Pollard picks out Miller at long-off, and he takes the chance easily.
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13th over: Mumbai 54-5 (Pollard 16, Suchith 1) Dhawan continues, and after Pollard finagles one over midwicket, Suchith opens his account through cover. Pollard then annihilates a six into the the middle tier of the stand at long-off - that’s an almighty blow.
12th over: Mumbai 46-5 (Pollard 9, Suchith 0) Bouncer, obviously - Suchith manages to keep out of the road, bat flailing as matter-of-principle, rather than with conviction.
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WICKET! Rayudu c Saha b Johnson 13 (Mumbai 46-5)
Bit of width generously presented to the batsman here, but the ball’s still far too sharp for him - he almost has no choice but to edge behind.
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12th over: Mumbai 46-4 (Rayudu 13, Pollard 9) Johnson returns at the other end, Pollard edging his first ball into the pad an away for one. Then, a coupe of dots, and an effort ball leaps up at Rayudu, who’s no idea what coming and going even is. It flicks his edge, goes down into the pitch, and races away for four.
11th over: Mumbai 41-4 (Rayudu 9, Pollard 8) Dhawan on, and Pollard takes a big stride down the pitch, but misses his drive. The ball raps his pad, and the ensuing shout looks good, but the umpire says no - the big front-foot stamp probably saved him; I doubt Hawkeye would’ve done. Next delivery, Rayudu gives himself room and deflects over mid-off, just over the hand of the leaping Johnson - now there’s an image - and four singles follow. The problem for Mumbai is that they need to throw the bat - already the rate is above 15 - but then, if they do, things could be over embarrassingly soon.
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10th over: Mumbai 32-4 (Rayudu 2, Pollard 6) Patel continues, and after a dot and a Pollard single, banged down to long-off, Rayudu is tempted down the track, missing, but Saha can’t quite snaffle the bails off in the time it takes his man to regain balance, spin, and ground his blade. despite a veritable run-fest of five, this is the second-lowest 10-over score in the history of the IPL.
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9th over: Mumbai 27-4 (Rayudu 2, Pollard 2) Pollard doesn’t like short, quick stuff; he’s probably come to the wrong place. But no, Mitch - I can call him that, we’re mates - keeps him hanging on, sending down full deliveries looking for swing. Ah! There is it! He’s been expecting you! Spitting off the pitch, under the armpit, and Pollard does well to kill it down towards his feet.
8th over: Mumbai 26-4 (Rayudu 2, Pollard 1) Another fine over - just three from it - prepping out thrill for another six ball of Mitch.
WICKET! Anderson st Saha b Patel 5 (Mumbai 25-4)
Curious one, this. Anderson swings, misses, Saha doesn’t take it well, but manages to fumble it into the stumps. There’s a pause while the umpire checks it wasn’t the gloves the broke them - it wasn’t. This is very close to over; what better time to pay some bills?
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8th over: Mumbai 25-3 (Rayudu 2, Anderson 5) Leg-bye Patel’s the first delivery, and then Rayudu chips over extra cover, Miller haring round the boundary to dive and claim the catch - only for the ball to slip out as he landed.
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7th over: Mumbai 23-3 (Rayudu 1, Anderson 5) Bailey knows he’s onto a good thing, so keeps Sharma going; another wicket here, and Pubjab are cruising. Rayudu gets off the mark with the first ball of the over, bumping to mid-on, and Anderson does the same to the second, stomping down the track and heaving over mid-off for four. Then, two more dots, making 16 in a bazzing spell of 1-12, and a single over cover. Already, the required run rate is 11.92.
6th over: Mumbai 17-3 (Rayudu 0, Anderson 0) Johnson’s got a lick up here, welcoming Anderson to the middle with a short one that he does well to shove away into the off-side. The remaining three balls are dots too, completing a wicket-maiden.
WICKET! Finch b Johnson 8 (Mumbai 17-3)
Cripes, crivens and other inadequate terms, what a ball this is. Slingy, skiddy and swinging into the right hander off a length, it’s far too good for him, knucking off-stump in short order. Mumbai have a difficulty.
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6th over: Mumbai 17-2 (Finch 8, Rayudu 0) Struggling to score? Why, have you met our friend Mitchell! The grey whites do him no favours, but he finds swing straight away, the ball hooping towards the pad and hitting it. There’s a loud appeal, but that was going well down. It doesn’t matter!
5th over: Mumbai 17-2 (Finch 8, Rayudu 0) Sharma looks a Test bowler, in mine, and he beats Rayudu all ends up outside off-stump as he tries to flick away on the leg side. There’s an appeal - for what is unclear - and, after a leg-bye, an inswinger raps him on the pad - it looks plumb again, but there was a thin inside-edge. Excellent umpiring, and another excellent over.
4th over: Mumbai 16-2 (Finch 8, Rayudu 0) Mumbai need to have a think about things, a very quick ones. Anureet and Sharma have too much for them currently, but then a no ball gives Rayudu a free hit. He stands and delivers, but only finds the man at mid off.
WICKET! Tare c Vijay b Anureet 7 (Mumbai 15-2)
Anureet tests Tare with a delivery back of a length, then a shorter one, and the pressure tells - he advances, Anureet drops shorter, he can’t adjust, and taps one to short cover.
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3rd over: Mumbai 13-1 (Finch 8, Tare 5) Dots and singles alternate - the batsmen run them up well - and Sharma shows excellent variety with taxing lines and lengths. Just three from the over.
2nd over: Mumbai 10-1 (Finch 7, Tare 3) In comes Anureet, and conceding one from his first two balls, he bangs one in that hurries after the bounce, beating Finch’s outside edge; that was a beauty. Next delivery, Finch drives uppishly, wide of point - they run two - before, after a dot, he properly gets hold of one - it’s short and wide - crunching a cover drive for another boundary. Those are a set of forearms, also handy for wrestling baby alligators.
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1st over: Mumbai 3-1 (Finch 1, Tare 2) Punjab bring in another slip and Sharma tries the outswinger - in these conditions, the ability to swing the ball, let alone both ways - and at speed, too - is so important. He has the batters in all sorts, here; great start for the visitors.
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WICKET! Sharma lbw b Sharma 0 (Mumbai 0-1)
This is a lovely delivery, swinging in and full of length. it’s much more than Rohit fancies second ball, and he’s trapped on the crease, hit on the back pad. It’s perhaps a little high, but he’s no distance down the track at all; huge wicket.
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Sharma will get Punjab underway.
We’re ready to go again.
Oh, and something about a captain’s innings.
So, that’s a decent total, but not a whole lot more. Punjab never quite recovered from Harbhajan’s spell, maintaining but not accelerating, which means we’re set for another compelling contest.
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Daniel is back, enjoy the second half of this game. Bye!
20th over: Punjab 177-5 ( Bailey 61, Johnson 3) It’s Suyal to take the final over for Mumbai. Expect a few off-cutters here. Johnson misses out on a slower ball but runs through for a bye. With the field rearranged, and fine leg up, Bailey attempted to scoop it over, but only managed to get a bash on the toe for his troubles, before limping down for a single. Bailey picks the slower ball from Suyal and wallops one for four down the ground. Suyal bowls a wide, as he attempts to circumvent Bailey’s movement on the crease. Bailey finishes the innings with a four. That’s a fine score, as Bailey jogs off the pitch.
19th over: Punjab 164-5 ( Bailey 51, Johnson 2)Kumar comes round the wicket to Bailey, who hacks the yorker off his toes and scampers for two. Johnson would have been run out at the bowler’s end, had the throw from Vinay been better. Bailey wallops the next for six, the ball disappearing 20 rows back behind the midwicket boundary. If Kumar is trying to squeeze him for space around the wicket, it’s not working. The Kings XI captain duly brings up his 50 before fetching a bouncer outside of off and pulling it square, which lands just short of the fielder. Johnson survives the yorker on the final ball.
18th over: Punjab 153-5 ( Bailey 41, Johnson 1) Malinga is such a classy bowler at the death, and his pace is so hard to pick with that action of his. Mitchell Johnson is in, who can only score one run in the three deliveries he faces. And that was an edge down to third man. That’s Malinga’s bowling done, he’s been magnificent.
WICKET! Dhawan 6 c Vinay b Malinga (Punjab 150-5)
Malinga gets another! He varies his pace so well here, coaxing Dhawan into flashing widly. The ball is well struck, but sails straight down the throat of Vinay for a simple catch.
17th over: Punjab 150-4 ( Bailey 39, Dhawan 6) Hello all. Suchith starts the over well, and has Dhawan reaching for the ball outside off, to no avail. He tickles a single down to give Bailey the strike, who wastes no time coming down the pitch and clobbering a six over mid-wicket. The timing there was superb and suddenly the young Suchith looks ruffled. He sends the last ball down the on side, which the Kings team run through for three runs. 10 off the over.
16th over: Punjab 140-6 ( Bailey 30, Dhawan 5) Malinga’s first ball post-interruption is leg-side again, and easily eased away by Dhawan for four to fine-leg. But, after a single, what a delivery to finish, speared straight and into the shin - they take a leg-bye, but, more importantly, that was Malinga.
Here’s Michael Butler to take you through the next hour or so.
WICKET! Miller c Tare b Malinga 24 (Punjab 134-4)
No such thing as a lucky wicket, but if there were, this would be it. Malinga just doesn’t look himself, and he hurls down a wide yin that Miller chases. But it’s too far away for him to control his swing, and a bottom edge flicks into the keeper’s gloves. Another excellent context is brewing, the tension heightened by a tactical break right as the adrenaline surges.
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16th over: Punjab 134-3 ( Miller 24, Bailey 30) Malinga is back, and an attempted yorker doesn’t come out well, onto Bailey’s pads, and he espies it out of the hand, clunking it flat over square-leg for six.
15th over: Punjab 127-3 ( Miller 24, Bailey 23) Pollard, who neither batted nor bowled against Kolkata, serves Bailey a dish first up - duly clouts it back over the heid, baseball-style. Pollard needs to find something here, because he doesn’t have the pace to cause much discomfort - he tries one into the body, then full outside off, then a slower-ball bouncer - and only two come from them. Bailey then makes room to address his penultimate delivery, clubbing inside-out over cover for one, before Miller spanks a crawler low, into the same area, getting four.
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14th over: Punjab 116-3 ( Miller 19, Bailey 17) Suchith returns, which seems like a smart call - his being gone after at the death doesn’t sound wise. The batsmen seem comfortable with him now, happy to knock it about until Miller comes down the pitch to his final delivery. He doesn’t hit as straight as planned, the bottom of the bat instead skewing the ball over midwicket, not towards long-on - but it goes for for anyway. “A moral victory for the bowler,” apparently, though the scoreboard appears unmoved.
13th over: Punjab 105-3 ( Miller 14, Bailey 11) Harbhajan will bowl out, and the batsmen determine to simply appreciate that fact, taking no chances. Miller adroitly tickles his first ball to fine-leg for two, and four more singles complete a superb spell that included nine dots. Both sides will fancy this, and as spectators, so, accordingly, should we.
12th over: Punjab 99-3 ( Miller 10, Bailey 9) Malinga comes back, presumably for just an over. he’s not looked himself so far this competition, and sends another loosener down the leg side; it’s gratefully lapped up by Bailey, who takes four. Malinga finds his line, though, a well-directed bouncer ramped away from the face for one, then singles from the last two balls, both of them threatening the stumps.
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11th over: Punjab 87-3 ( Miller 7, Bailey 2) Mumbai will be liking the look of this now. Harbhajan - whose name always minds me of the below - has 2-14 off three.
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WICKET! Vijay c Suchith b Harbhajan 35 (Pubjab 88-3)
What a crucial spell this could turn out to be. Vijay hoiks a pull high to square-leg, and Suchith provides further evidence of his composure and stones, watching it all the way into his hands.
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10th over: Punjab 87-2 (Vijay 35, Miller 7) So, do Punjab consolidate, taking advantage of a fast start, or attack, taking advantage of a fast start? Precisely the kind of questions that prompted Mumbai to bowl first, I shouldn’t wonder. In commentary, they’re trying to work out Glenn Maxwell - was it an irresponsible shot he played? Roughly, it’s the KP conversation, yet again, and apparently one they have in New Zealand about Brendon McCullum - with a good deal more levity, you’d hypothesise. Talking of Pietersen, he’s made a fat ton for Surrey at Oxford University today - what more do the ECB want? Decent over from Suchith, just six from it, but then Vijay bangs his final delivery away to backward square-leg, and suddenly momentum sustains.
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9th over: Punjab 77-2 (Vijay 28, Miller 5) Harbhajan drops wide to Miller, and he waits for it, stretching to flay four through point. But Harbhajan contrives three dots in response, and the final ball is bunted for four down to long-off; it’s time to talk strategy!
“Strategy.”
“Strategy!”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
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8th over: Punjab 72-2 (Vijay 28, Miller 0) Suchith is well into this now, coaxing one to grip, rip and bounce away from Vijay; the brakes have been applied by the spinners. Then, a stray down leg-side, a flick away to the midwicket fence, and the pressure eases - but Suchith looks a bowler, with a temperament.
WICKET! Maxwell c Rayudu b Suchith 6 (Punjab 68-2)
Suchith finds a bit of turn and Maxwell hoiks across the line, to-edging a dolly to Rayudu, stuck on at long-on.
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8th over: Punjab 68-1 (Vijay 24, Maxwell 6) Suchith, who was extremely effective in club cricket - more so than KC Cariappa - comes into the attack, not long after receiving his Mumbai cap from Ricky Ponting. Vijay allows hima sighter, taking kust a single from his first ball, but then Maxwell carts him for four down to square-leg
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7th over: Punjab 62-1 (Vijay 23, Maxwell 1) Just five runs from the over, and a wicket - excellent change, excellent bowling.
WICKET! Sehwag c Pollard b Harbhajan 36 (Punjab 60-1)
And there it is! Sehwag goes again - have more redundant words ever been typed - it gets big on him, and loops it high to long-on, where Pollard takes easily.
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7th over: Punjab 60-0 (Vijay 22, Sehwag 36) Mumbai are in a situation here, so turn to the experience of Harbhajan. He concedes singles from his first three balls - reasonable enough, but it’s already at the point where his tea, needs wickets.
6th over: Punjab 57-0 (Vijay 20, Sehwag 35) Malinga is introduced to the attack, and commences - don’t trust anyone who uses that word instead of starts, or begins - with a wide. Then, after a dot, Sehwag digs one out on the back foot, taking it from off to leg and raising his team’s fifty with four down to mid-off, backed up with four more, tucked off the hips and the top of a leap. What a player he is, what a set of wrists he has; what are they made of? They ought really to have their own nursery rhyme.
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5th over: Punjab 46-0 (Vijay 19, Sehwag 26) This pitch looks truer than Carl Williams, and Vijay stands to cart Kumar over the infield, earning four through long-on. Then, Vijay makes room and punishes his hands through the ball, which flies over cover and arranges four more. Having already conceded 35, Kumar is probably a fair bit relieved to respond with four dots.
4th over: Punjab 38-0 (Vijay 11, Sehwag 26) Sehwag splices one back past Suyal that gets him four nonetheless - “this outfield is like greased lightening”, says Shastri, without quite explaining the similarity. Suyal retorts well, though, the remainder of the over ceding just two.
3rd over: Punjab 32-0 (Vijay 11, Sehwag 21) Ho ho. Poor Vinay Kumar. Sehwag goes to cut but Kumar cramps him, only to facilitate a bottom edge - it misses off-peg and shoots away for four. And, to compound the teeth-spitting fury, he launches the next ball over square-leg for six more - which we only learn after various replays, which show it hitting the rope on the full. Oh, and oh look! Four, cut late, hard and fast through point! And then a single and another single, the second facilitated by a misfield, which allows Sehwag to back-cut the final delivery, running one and making 17 from the over.
2nd over: Punjab 15-0 (Vijay 10, Sehwag 5) Suyal to open from the other end, and achieves the rare triumph of consecutive dots to Sehwag. Sehwag adjusts his glasses. And then he stands dead still to batter on the up over extra cover, and like that, pah, it was gone. What a champion he is.
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1st over: Punjab 10-0 (Vijay 10, Sehwag 0) Away-swing first up - to Vijay, facing this time instead of Sehwag. It’s a dot, and then after two more, Kumar tries a bouncer - not the wisest at his pace with a new ball, and Vijay makes room to hook for a four. Then, four more when a full toss arrives on the pads - bowlers’ fault, obviously, but he wasn’t helped by a misfield at midwicket.
Kumar to open...
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Might start counting down before I do anything.
Right then, the players are middled, the horns are blaring, and Punjab’s cream trousers looks silly. We’re ready for the off.
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“The best cricket wicket in India”, says Warne of the Wankhede.
Two changes for Mumbai, who leave out Ojha and Bumrah, bringing in Suchith and Suyal, while Punjab omit Karanveer Singh for Rishi Dhawan.
Punjab would’ve batted.
Mumbai win the toss, and will field.
On a good track, perhaps they don’t want to risk underestimating or overestimating a suitable score, nor allowing their opponents to chase.
So, the standard has been set. What’ve you got, Mumbai and Punjab?
