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Smith, Pollard help Mumbai register emphatic win
Dwayne Smith hit an unbeaten half century (63) and Kieron Pollard a quickfire unbeaten 32 as Mumbai Indians beat Highvels Lions by seven wickets in Jaipur to keep their chances alive in the Champions League Twenty20.
Chasing a paltry 141 to win Mumbai reached home with nine balls to spare.
Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first in the Group A match.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Harbhajan Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Mitchell Johnson, Pragyan Ojha.
Highveld Lions: Alviro Petersen (capt), Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Neil McKenzie, Jean Symes, Dwaine Pretorius, Sohail Tanvir, Hardus Viljoen, Aaron Phangiso, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Imran Tahir.
Johnson struck early for Mumbai
Mumbai Indians produced a fine bowling display to restrict Highveld Lions to a modest 140 for five.
Opting to bowl, Mumbai pacers first utilised the seaming conditions at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium pitch before their spinners came to the party to stop Lions from posting a formidable total.
Lions did not have the best of the starts losing both their openers inside the 50-runmark. Rassie van der Dussen (13) was the first to depart as he
mistimed a pull straight to Rishi Dhawan at square leg off Mitchell Johnson.
Petersen top-scored for Lions with an unbeaten
Then came in Lions skipper Alviro Petersen (35 not out) and together with Dwaine Pretorious' (31 not out) company ressurected Lions' innings with a 59-run sixth wicket stand.
The duo started slowly but opened up as the innings progressed and notched up their 50-run stand in just 33 balls. The stand between Petersen and Pretorious gave momentum to Lions' innings after the early loss of wickets.
Petersen scored his runs off 27 balls during which he hit three fours and a six.
Ojha was the most successful bowler for Mumbai
Pragyan Ojha was the most successful bowler for Mumbai picking up two wickets for 26 runs from his four overs, while Johnson (1-33), Dhawan (1-21) and Harbhajan (1-19) scalped up a wicket each.
Mumbai's skipper Rohit Sharma introduced Ojha in the ninth over and the left-arm spinner produced result immediately by disturbing the timbers of Jean Symes after the batsman clobbered the bowler for a six in the previous delivery.
Ojha struck again in his next over, picking up the wicket of Sohail Tanvir caught by Dwayne Smith at the mid-wicket boundary.
Pretorious made a valuable 31 not out
Dwaine Pretorious provided a perfect foil for his skipper, the two ressurecting the Lions' innings with a 59-run sixth wicket stand.
He made 31 not out.
Pretorious decorated his 21-ball stay at the crease with one boundary and two huge hits over the fence.
Tendulkar was undone by a slower delivery from Tanvir
Mumbai suffered a big blow early losing the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar (5) in the third over.
Tendulkar was undone by a slower delivery from Sohail Tanvir as the ball went through his defence to crash onto the stumps.
Rohit Sharma was involved in a scuffle with Viljoen
Smith, however, continued his attacking game and together with captain Rohit Sharma (20) kept Mumbai in the hunt, sharing 43 runs for the third wicket in just five overs.
Rohit provided him able support from the other end before perishing in the 13th over, caught by substitute fielder Bavuma off Dwaine Pretorious. He struck two fours during his 17-ball knock.
The Mumbai skipper was involved in a war of words with Hardus Viljoen of the Highveld Lions after a bump in the field.
Smith was at his aggressive best
Smith was at his aggressive best as found boundaries with ease to notch up his fifty in just 33 balls.
He and Pollard ensured that there was no further hiccup for Mumbai as they stitched unbeaten 51 runs off just 35 balls to ensure a win for their side.
Mumbai will next play Perth Scorchers in Delhi on October 2, while the Lions will take on Otago Volts in their next game in Jaipur on Sunday.