Dale Steyn in full cry was a real treat to watch as the DLF-IPL match between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians suddenly sprung to life at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.
Defending a modest total of 100, Steyn was all charged up. A peach of a delivery, which moved in the air, beat Mumbai Indians opener Richard Levi all ends up and hit the middle stump.
Steyn's brilliant first delivery stunned the full house into silence and the South African speedster beat Rohit Sharma's bat with another beauty in the same over. Rohit, however, survived.
Veer Pratap impresses
Bengal's tall medium-pace bowler Veer Pratap Singh, operating from the other end, came up with an impressive spell in which he removed Sachin Tendulkar.
After the uncertain start, Mumbai Indians — needing 101 and two points to move to the third spot in the table — fought hard to prevail by five wickets with Ambati Rayudu's flurry of shots, particularly off leg-spinner Amit Mishra, taking his side past the finish line.
Steyn's fast and furious spell (4-0-10-2) was easily the highlight of a match that was first dominated by the home team's bowlers, including captain and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
After electing to bowl on a green top, Harbhajan himself took the new ball as a logical option against the left-handed openers, Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan.
Malinga takes over
A few mishits helped Chargers progress at six an over during the Power Play, but once Malinga was introduced and induced a false shot from Cameron White, Chargers faltered right through its innings.
The Sri Lankan went on to take three more wickets, and finished with figures of four for 16 off 3.4 overs. Incidentally, White led Chargers after Kumar Sangakkara was left out.
The innocuous left-arm seam of James Franklin produced a big wicket in the form of Daniel Christian, and thereafter it was left to J.P. Duminy to gather some useful runs.
Chargers had an opportunity to set a slightly bigger target, but Amit Mishra and tailender Veer Pratap fell to injudicious shots eight balls before the completion of the full quota.
This left Duminy stranded at 25 and Chargers with a total that proved inadequate despite Steyn's scorching spell.
Scoreboard
Deccan Chargers: Parthiv c Munaf b R.P. Singh 19 (18b, 1x4, 1x6), S. Dhawan st. Karthik b Harbhajan 29 (32b, 3x4), I. Jaggi c Munaf b Harbhajan 2 (7b), C. White c R.P. Singh b Malinga 0 (1b), J.P. Duminy (not out) 25 (24b, 3x4), D. Christian c Rohit b Franklin 5 (5b, 1x4), B. Chipli c Harbhajan b Franklin 1 (3b), Ashish c Rohit b Munaf 10 (10b, 1x6), A. Mishra c Franklin b Malinga 1 (6b), D. Steyn c & b Malinga 3 (5b), V.P. Singh c Rohit b Malinga 0 (1b); Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-3): 5; Total (in 18.4 overs): 100.
Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Parthiv), 2-41 (Jaggi), 3-44 (White), 4-59 (Dhawan), 5-64 (Christian), 6-66 (Chipli), 7-82 (Ashish), 8-90 (Mishra), 9-100 (Steyn).
Mumbai Indians bowling: Harbhajan 4-0-13-2, R.P. Singh 3-0-20-1, Munaf 4-0-23-1, Malinga 3.4-0-16-4, Franklin 3-0-18-2, Peterson 1-0-8-0.
Mumbai Indians: R. Levi b Steyn 0 (1b), S. Tendulkar c Christian b V.P. Singh 14 (14b, 1x4), Rohit c Jaggi b Duminy 42 (48b, 4x4, 1x6), D. Karthik c Parthiv b Steyn 2 (6b), J. Franklin c Parthiv b Ashish 13 (20b), A. Rayudu (not out) 19 (15b, 2x4), R. Peterson (not out) 1 (5b); Extras (lb-1, w-9): 10; Total (for five wkts. in 18.1 overs): 101.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Levi), 2-31 (Tendulkar), 3-45 (Karthik), 4-75 (Rohit), 5-81 (Franklin).
Deccan Chargers bowling: Steyn 4-0-10-2, V.P. Singh 4-0-28-1, Christian 3-0-14-0, Mishra 4-0-29-0, Ashish 2.1-0-11-1, Duminy 1-0-8-1.
Man-of-the-match: D. Steyn.
