Sohail Tanvir took an impressive 4-14 to become the tournament's highest wicket taker...
The Mumbai Indians lost their third successive nail-biter to leave their semi-final hopes hanging by a thread. With 43 needed off the final three overs for the Rajasthan Royals to protect their 100% home record, youngsters Niraj Patel and Ravindra Jadeja kept their nerve - while several more experienced Mumbai players lost theirs - to win it off the final ball.
The result means Delhi Daredevils become the third team to make it to the semi-finals and if the Chennai Super Kings win their match against Deccan Chargers on Tuesday, Mumbai will be out of contention.
When Shane Watson was dismissed with 69 runs still needed off 48 balls and no big-name batsmen to come on a pitch not conducive to stroke-making, Mumbai were in command. The Mumbai bowlers maintained a tight line-and-length and runs came mainly in singles. With Niraj and Jadeja hardly threatening, the equation became a difficult 43 off the final three.
A streaky inside-edge for four and a misdirected yorker which deflected off the pads to the fine-leg boundary left Rajasthan needing 34 off the last two. Jadeja then clubbed Rohan Raje over cover for six off the first ball and a couple of twos followed in the over. Raje's final delivery should also have gone only for a couple, but shoddy work at the bowler's end - one among Mumbai's several elementary fielding errors - gave away a crucial, extra run.
Four runs came off the first two balls of Dilhara Fernando's last over and Rajasthan required 11 off the final four balls. A flat, powerful six over long-on from Niraj got them closer but only two runs were scored off the next couple of deliveries and three were needed from the final ball. Fernando, an experienced international, then sent down a leg-side wide and Niraj mistimed the last delivery to mid-on. Only one run should have been taken but the batsmen chanced their luck and set off for the second. Sanath Jayasuriya, another experienced campaigner, fumbled the throw from the deep to fluff a simple run-out opportunity and hand Rajasthan yet another victory.
At the start of the chase of 146, amid some uncontrolled across-the-line heaves and suicidal running, Kamran Akmal punished Ashish Nehra's wide deliveries and picked off two boundaries off Shaun Pollock. After surviving some close shaves, Akmal was run out when he made the basic error of not dragging his bat into the crease.
After Fernando dismissed the explosive Yusuf Pathan and Swapnil Asnodkar, Rajasthan were struggling at 54 for 3 after nine but Shane Watson clouted a couple of over-pitched balls from Raje for four to ease the tension. However, Mohammad Kaif was run out after some slapstick running between the wickets and Tendulkar, running across from midwicket, pulled off a blinder to send back Watson in Raje's next over. That was when Rajasthan, as they have through the tournament, found new heroes to bail them out in Niraj and Jadeja.
After choosing to field, on a pitch where was keeping low, Rajasthan restricted Mumbai to 145, a modest total that was reached thanks to Yogesh Takawale's eight-ball 24. Rajasthan's bowlers held sway for most of the innings, and Man-of-the-Match Sohail Tanvir reinforced his status as the tournament's best bowler with a four-wicket haul that earned him the purple cap.
Mumbai struggled to find momentum from the start, and the opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tendulkar were stifled by the new-ball bowlers to such an extent that only 29 runs, and two boundaries, came in the Powerplay. Pathan, bowling flat and quick, and Siddharth Trivedi also kept Mumbai in check before Warne came into the attack for his much-anticipated showdown with Tendulkar. Warne varied his flight well but was competently handled by Tendulkar, who kept tucking him away to the leg side.
Only 60 came off the first ten overs, and Jayasuriya felt the need to provide some impetus. An attempt to mow Trivedi over midwicket was miscued but landed safely and an outside-edge raced past the wicketkeeper for four. However, his luck ran out off, and a pull went straight to midwicket.
Things were to get worse for Mumbai as Tendulkar closed the face of the bat early to a slower ball from Tiwary, offering a simple return catch. Robin Uthappa's short, uneasy stay at the crease ended when Akmal effected a smart stumping off Warne, and it was the impressive Abhishek Nayar's three off-side boundaries that pushed them along.
Just as the innings was gathering some momentum, Tanvir ran through the Mumbai middle-order, taking four wickets in two overs to leave them at 120 for 7. However, Takawale lifted Mumbai with a assault against Watson - four fours and the innings' only six came off the final over to take them to a competitive score.
However, that proved insufficient as Rajasthan again dug deep to pull off a win which guarantees them first place while Mumbai were left to rue some basic mistakes which cost them dearly.
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