another short ball, it follows the batsman who ducks under it, but it's an ok delivery, Mumbai win, Ponting is all smiles, gives a hug to Munaf, DK and Polly.. and others in the queue..
MI vs CSK, 5th match at Chennai, IPL, Apr 06 2013 - Ball by Ball Commentary
That brings us to the end of another cracker of a match. Abhishek Purohit's match report will be available soon. Thanks for all your comments and feedback, this is Devashish Fuloria signing off. Good night.
Presentation
Ricky Ponting: "Last two games have both gone down the wire and I am happy that we have won this one. That partnership between Pollard and Harbhajan gave us a total that we could defend. The outfield was lusher and bigger than most Indian grounds and that helped us defend the total. Our bowlers did a great job, specially the spinners in the middle overs."
MS Dhoni: "The shot selection was bad in this game, the bowlers did very well, kept getting wickets at regular intervals. 150 runs target is what we should have chased. There was a time in the last two overs where I couldn't change strike because we didn't have wickets in hand. I didn't know what the strength of the current combination of bowlers were, we let them try it out and that allows Mumbai to get away, but we should have chased it down. The pitch is very good, fast bowlers had bounce, batsmen could play shots, but it will slow down as the tournament progresses."
Kieron Pollard is the Man of the Match: "Feeling very relieved after that over that I bowled to Dhoni. I like to contribute in all the departments of the game. That catch came to me in the end, had i dropped it, I would have been the match gone. I am not a finished product as a bat, but I am trying to do what the team situation requires. I told Harbhajan to just keeping knocking it around and build a partnership."
Pollard wins an award for hitting maximum sixes, Ponting wins the 'nayi soch' (new thinking) award.
Mumbai Indians win it in Chennai and it didn't come easy, Dhoni was threatening to take it away single-handedly like he has done so many times before. But that catch by Pollard made the difference.. The team owner is on the ground, she gives high-fives to Ponting and Tendulkar, then shakes hands with Munaf..
Mitchell Johnson: "It was nerve-wracking, the crowd was behind them, Dhoni got going too, but I bowled well and then Munaf bowled a good last over. It was tough to bowl in the sticky conditions and I was surprised when Ricky gave me a third over in a row, it worked out well. There was dew today, but it wasn't as bad as we thought."
Siva: "Munaf escaped with a descent stat for this match, thanks to Pollard's blinder!"
Kapil: "That catch by Pollard gives him the unique right to claim that he caught a ball that even his coach - Jonty Rhodes - could not have caught. Jonty isn't 6 ft and most players who are, are terrible fielders."
Rajesh Banda: "What a man Polly is, he is the one brought chennai back in game and he is the only man to throw them out of contest.. superb stuff.."
Rohit Ramanathan: "Pollard seems to be breaking his own record of the best catches this year..towards the end of the year, the top ten best catches may all be Pollards.."
another short delivery that goes over the bat, to the keeper
moves outside the leg stump, Munaf follows him with a short one, the batsman swats it back to the bowler like he is getting rid of an irritating fly
Vicky: "@Schekar: "Sachin's duck is a good omen for mumbai. Indeed it is..."
Vishnu: "I take back what I said before. These West Indians love to put their best performance in the last over."
fuller delivery on off stump, the batsman drives it to extra cover where Ponting dives and makes a half-stop, gives away two, but he doesn't mind it at this stage
length delivery outside off, the batsman swings and misses
Milind: "Catches win matches, without a doubt that will be the best catch of the year" -- No sir, it's the third best Pollard catch this year...
Polly has done it! He has pulled off another stunner at the boundary! It was a length delivery, one of those which disappeared in the previous over, it looked like this was going out of the ground too, but Polly intercepts just in time with the tall frame of his, outstretched arms, bucket palms, is that the match?
Ponting has his arms on Munaf's shoulder, now Sachin joins in the discussion. Both of them sharing their wisdom with Munaf, he accepts it with a shake of head. Did he understand everything? We will find out now.. Long off, long on, deep midwicket, deep square leg
slower delivery on off, it's full too, the batsman pushes it to long off for a single
see it sailing over deep midwicket everytime it is bowled on a length on the stumps - that is one lesson Mitchell Johnson would learn from this delivery
length delivery on off stump is mauled on the leg side, Bhajji at deep midwicket does well to come around it and keep the batsmen to two
he gives away an extra run with another wide outside off
22 off 9 now..Just one off this over till now
fuller delivery outside off, he punches it to mid-off, there was a single but he stays back again..
length delivery on off stump, he tries to swing it big, but ends up dragging it to deep midwicket, he turns down the single again
this time it's a good yorker just outside off, Dhoni tries to whip it to the leg side but doesn't make any contact
bowls it full and wide outside off, Dhoni lets it go and it's a wide
Mitchell Johnson comes in ..
MK: "@rajan, and now a "Thriller"...."
length delivery on off, the batsman chips it over the bowlers head, it doesn't go too far but Dhoni turns down Rajpoot's request for his first IPL runs..
New batsman is Ankit Rajpoot
Vishnu: "One West Indian bowled his team to victory out of nowhere and another West Indian bowls his team to defeat out of nowhere."
he bowls a slower delivery outside off, the batsman was too eager to push it to the leg side and falls over a bit, gets an inside edge and the ball hits the stumps..
rajan: "@Viral Patel,, which now turning into a horror for MIs"
bowls a high full toss on the stumps, the batsman punches it to extra cover for a single
bowls a slower wider delivery, this one is wide indeed
bowls a fuller wider delivery and Dhoni takes a tiny step down the pitch and threads the gap at cover point with a wristy slash..
bowls a short of length delivery wide outside off, Dhoni lets it go and it's called a wide, a harsh call lets say
Boos all around.. this time he bowls, but Dhoni moves out of the way, the crowd loves it .. smiles all around.. Dhoni has taken his pads off and is now tying his shoe laces..
Viral Patel: "So, After Action, Drama, Thriller, we have a bit of COMEDY at ground."
Over 20 • CSK 139/9