Mumbai thrilling win

Durban: An absolute thrilling cameo from Virat Kohli (47 off 24 balls) turned the 165-run chase into a spine-chilling last-ball climax that eventually ended with Bangalore losing by just two runs at Kingsmead on Sunday. Mumbai, though, crashed out of the tournament despite winning.

Chasing the Mumbai score after Sachin Tendulkar elected to bat first, Old-guards Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis got Bangalore off to a flying start until debutant Abu Nechim struck to remove Kallis (15) and Dwayne Bravo got Robin Uthappa (6) and Ross Taylor (9) caught in quick succession to give Mumbai much-needed breakthroughs.

Indian Statesman Dravid meanwhile completed his half century as the Bangalore team neared 100. But as soon as they crossed the triple-figure mark, Harbhajan Singh castled big-hitting Cameron White (7) to tilt scales in Mumbai's favour.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli's innings soon gathered momentum, whacking Nechim for a six. The young debutant, though, came back well in the same over to control the damage.

The Delhi batsman Kohli, playing for Bangalore, hit the death-over expert Malinga for three consecutive boundaries in the penultimate over to leave his team needing 13 runs off the last six balls.

Such was the impact of Kohli's 24-ball 47 runs, that it made Dravid's 71-run effort look pedestrian but in the end, both didn't prove enough.

Needing three off the last Zaheer Khan ball, a top-edge off Kohli went straight up that saw wicketkeeper Ambati Rayudu circling under it to safely glove the ball and the match for Mumbai.

Man of the Match Dwayne Bravo was the most successful bowler for Mumbai taking 2/23 in his four overs while Zaheer, Nechim and Harbhajan took one apiece.

Earlier in the evening, Bangalore not only kept Mumbai's scoring in check but also continued to chip in at the wickets, restricting Sachin's team to a scoring rate of just over six at the halfway stage.

Praveen Kumar removed Sachin (11) and Rayudu (3) was lapped in the slips by Rahul Dravid off Vinay Kumar that signaled the worst possible start for Mumbai.

Bangalore bowlers continued to thwart every run-making attempt, with Kallis removing fellow-countrymen Duminy (10) in the process.

Steyn eventually marked his run-up in the 11th over and peppered Tiwary with fast short-pitched stuff. The tactics of holding Steyn back paid the richest dividends possible when Steyn gunned down both Dhawan (41) and the dangerman Pollard (0), reducing Mumbai to a sorry-looking 84/5 in 13 overs.

Bravo's dropped caught and bowled chance by Kumble proved costly, with the West Indian turning it on for Mumbai with a 17-ball cameo of 29 runs. It turned out to be the much-needed fillip for the Mumbai innings that looked in tatters for the most part.

The 18th over, bowled by Kumble, went for 22 runs, where Bravo hit two towering sixes and a boundary. It also brought up the 50-run partnership between Bravo and Tiwary.

Steyn, though, soon took care of Bravo, which saw Tiwary taking over with 38 runs of 30 balls. And when Harbhajan (14) too got a few useful runs at the end, the IPL runners-up notched up a challenging 165/7.

Anil Kumble not only went wicket-less but gave away 45 runs in his four overs. Daley Steyn was the pick of the Bangalore bowlers with 3/26.

Mumbai Vs Bangalore a Virtual QF

Durban: Bangalore's loss on Friday against the South Australia Redbacks has given the Mumbai Indians a ray of hope to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League T20 and turned their game against fellow IPL side on Sunday into a virtual quarter-final clash.

With one win from three games and the last league outing on Sunday, Mumbai know that they must win this game to keep their hopes alive of making it to the last four. It definitely helps that they have a positive net run rate and a big win will only help them as the photo-finish in the race to the second semi-final spot hots up in this group and will in all probability be decided by decimals.

The Lions, who are placed fourth in the group, will eye a win against Guyana in the first game of the day. A win will put them on four points and also put them within striking distance of a semi-final berth with one game left to play. Bangalore too have two games left, but the team management will surely like to register two straight wins to wrap up a semi-final spot without any more hiccups.

Only Mumbai have Sunday's game to play and therefore, cannot afford to lose the plot now. They have paid for the price of batting and bowling inconsistently and have been stunned by less-fancied sides in two games.

The Sachin Tendulkar-led side had promised a lot with their impressive IPL season but have just failed to click as a unit here.

Except for Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, who has bagged six wickets by conceding 83 runs in the three matches, none of the Mumbai Indians bowlers have made a mark and that has been the main reason for their tough times in this tournament.

Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have been disappointing so far. Zaheer has taken just one wicket having conceded 105 runs in the three matches, while Harbhajan has scalped two at the expense of 86 runs.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore began the tournament with an easy nine-wicket win over Guyana with South African Jacques Kallis starring with the bat and ball. They, however, were brought down to earth with a humiliating eight-wicket loss to South Australia Redbacks on Friday.

Without Kallis, the Anil Kumble-led side failed in both batting and bowling as they were shot out for 154 and then none of their bowlers, including the captain himself and South African Dale Steyn, making much impact against the Australian side.

Mum Vs Guy, 10th Match, Group B, Durban

Mumabai - 184/4 (20 overs)

Kieron Pollard - 72 (not out)

Tendulkar - 48

Guyana - 153/6 (20 overs)

Ramnaresh Sarwan - 46

Narsinqh Deonarine - 27

Mumbai Indians won by 31 runs

That's it from the trio of Shashank, Ajith and Sid V for tonight. Hope you have enjoyed the coverage, it was a pleasure bringing it to you. Till we see you next time, it's goodbye and goodnight from all of us here!

Tendulkar: No hiccups today! Pollard was special and then JP did well to polish off a very good batting performance. I thought Pollard played smartly, he used his brains. It's not all about going bang bang, he paced his innings very well. There is a lot of room for improvement in our bowling. It's important to play good cricket and that is what our focus will be on against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. I am sure it will be a very good contest.

Sarwan: Pollard was brilliant, he took the game away from us. We pulled it back a long way after Sachin and Dhawan started well for them. While chasing, we wanted to keep wickets in hand and go after the bowling in the last 5 overs, unfortunately we left it a little too late. Had we kept them down to 160, maybe we could have chased it down.

Pollard: I bucked down a bit initially before cutting loose in the end. The pitch was excellent for batting, that just made my job easy. I don't mind batting anywhere, I just want to adapt to wherever the team needs me. Hopefully we can play some good cricket against RCB on Sunday as well.

Keiron Pollard is the MoM for his whirlwind knock of 72 in just 30 balls.

The Mumbai Indians live to fight another day! The Guyanese have put up a better fight tonight but unfortunately that wasn't enough to help them cross the line tonight. Mumbai Indians have Pollard to thank for the win tonight. They were struggling at the 15 over mark, but his whirlwind innings got them to 184. Their fielding was sloppy to say the least, but the bowling looked good in patches, something they need to work on if they are to challenge the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their final game. Stay connected for the presentation

Desperate Mumbai in must-win situation

Durban: Stunned by two back-to-back defeats, the Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians will be desperate to find their winning ways when they take on a low-profile Guyana in a Champions League Group B match at Durban on Thursday.

Having lost the first two games against the Lions and the Redbacks respectively owing to poor strategy and some sloppy fielding, the game against Guyana becomes a must-win encounter for the Mumbai side. Along with Guyana who got a thrashing of their life at the hands of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first match, Mumbai currently make the bottom of the group B and both sides would be eyeing their first win of the tournament.

What would have hurt Mumbai is that they looked in a commanding position almost right through the game against the Redbacks, but poor bowling and awful fielding at the death led to their downfall. Both Zaheer Khan and Hrabhajan Singh have failed to impose themselves on the opposition and are struggling to get the rhythm right. Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga has been the impressive of the bowlers and Mumbai will be hoping that he continues his good work.

Though Mumbai lost once while chasing and once while defending, their batting looks more or less settled with scores of 176 and 180 in their two outings.

Although Sachin Tendulkar failed in the last match, he looked pretty solid in his innings of 20 runs after a breezy 62-ball 69 in the first game. Young batsman Saurabh Tiwary and Kireon Pollard played a swashbuckling innings of 44 and 36 respectively against the Redbacks and team will hope that the duo continue their impressive form against Guyana.

Guyana, who lost their campaign-opener to Bangalore by nine wickets, will find Mumbai Indians a tough nut to crack. Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan is the only big name in their batting line-up which somehow managed to cross the 100-run mark against RCB's mighty bowling attack.

But Mumbai will surely not take Guyana for granted because the players like Christopher Barnwell and Sewnarine Chattergoon are capable of changing the equation in a matter of few overs with their smart batting.