Mumbai Indians notched up their fifth victory of DLF IPL 2012 as they beat the Deccan Chargers on a seaming Wankhede track in what turned out to be a low-scoring contest. After bowling the Chargers out for a paltry 100 runs, MI got to the winning score, but not before they had lost five wickets during the run-chase.

The biggest surprise at the start of the game was that Kumar Sangakkara opted to drop himself from the Chargers’ playing XI. This was probably because of his sluggish form in the tournament. Cameron White, therefore, replaced him as the skipper when the two captains walked out for the toss. Harbhajan Singh, Mumbai Indians’ skipper, opted to field first upon winning the toss.

The visitors put on a good opening partnership given the context of the game. Parthiv Patel (19) and Shikhar Dhawan added 37 before the former was caught at mid-on off RP Singh’s bowling in the sixth over. That dismissal triggered a collapse for the Chargers as they lost Ishank Jaggi (2) and Cameron White (0) in the space of six deliveries to stumble to 44 for three in 8.1 overs.

Dhawan (29) was the next to go when he tried to give Harbhajan a charge down the wicket, but ended up getting stumped by Dinesh Karthik in the 12th over. James Franklin then picked up the next two wickets for the hosts as he accounted for both, Daniel Christian (5) and Bharat Chipli (1) in the 13th over. Ashish Reddy (10) spooned a catch to Rohit Sharma, who was running back from point. This gave Munaf Patel his only wicket of the match. And with Malinga dismissing the last three DC batsmen, including the last two off consecutive balls, the visitors were bowled out for 100 in 18.4 overs.

With the Wankhede wicket having enough juice in it for the quicker bowlers, the target wasn’t going to be an easy one. And when Dale Steyn knocked Richard Levi (0) over with the first delivery of the innings, the target only got stiffer. Steyn kept up the pressure by bowling some beautiful deliveries to Sharma. But with Sachin Tendulkar guiding his younger teammate, the pair was able to see out a difficult stretch with a second wicket stand of 31 runs.

Tendulkar (14) finally got out in the sixth over as he tried to slash a delivery from Veer Pratap Singh. He ended up offering a thick edge that went straight to Daniel Christian at slip. Dinesh Karthik (2) followed Tendulkar soon after as he edged a delivery from Steyn to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. This left MI precariously placed at 45 for three in 8.3 overs.

Rohit Sharma, nevertheless, stuck around for the hosts and steered them past the troubled situation. Sharma added a valuable 30 runs for the fourth wicket with James Franklin. And with both, Veer Pratap Singh and Steyn having bowled out their quota by the 13th over, the visitors didn’t quite have any options left to unsettle the remainder of the MI batting line-up.

Sharma (42) eventually fell to JP Duminy while attempting a big shot only to be caught by Ishank Jaggi, while Franklin (13) was caught by Parthiv Patel off Ashish Reddy at the start of the 17th over. However, thanks to Ambati Rayudu, who scored an unbeaten 19 (off 15 balls) while batting at No. 6, the hosts scampered home with a five-wicket win. It took them 18.1 overs to reach the required target.

The win pushes the Mumbai Indians up to third place in the points table. The Deccan Chargers, meanwhile, continue to languish at the bottom of the league standings.

Scorecard

Man-of-the-match: Dale Steyn for his incisive spell of 4-0-10-2