Dwayne Smith clinches last-ball thriller for Mumbai

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Mumbai: Dwayne Smith smacked 16 runs in the last over as Mumbai Indians held their nerve to register a miraculous two-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

It looked all over for Mumbai after Smith took a single off the first ball of the 20th over and when Ben Hilfenhaus bowled Lasith Malinga (0) off the second. But RP Singh (1 not out) did a sensible job by taking a single off the third, and giving the strike back to Smith, who first cleared the long-on fence with a six off a full-toss, and then smacked two back-to-back fours and clinched a win for the home side. The West Indian power-hitter remained unbeaten on 24 off just 9 deliveries.

IPL 5: I was confident of winning the match, says Smith

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Mumbai: Dwayne Smith had told RP Singh that he could win the match for Mumbai Indians if the paceman could manage to give him strike to face the last three balls.

Mumbai needed 15 off the final four balls when Singh got a single to give the strike back to Smith. And the big-hitting West Indian kept his words by hammering a six and two fours to help Mumbai register a thrilling two-wicket victory over title holders Chennai Super Kings. "I just backed myself. I know as long as I can watch the ball I can do it. I just asked RP [Singh] to give me the three balls that were left. I knew I could do it from there," Smith said after the match.

One individual can change match in T20: Fleming

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Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming on Sunday said that the way Dwayne Smith won today's match for Mumbai Indians, it shows the unpredictability of the Twenty20 format, in which one individual can change the result of a match with his performance.

Smith, playing his first game after being flown in as a late replacement for the injured Australian Mitchell Johnson, piloted MI to a two-wicket win with a fine unbeaten knock of 24 off just nine balls, including a six and two fours in the last three balls.

IPL 5: Spoon-feeding doesn't help at all, says Morkel

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New Delhi: For Morne Morkel, the idea of soaking up pressure at the international level is to make mistakes and learn from them all by himself and that is why the South African pacer feels he is flourishing in the IPL as his captain Virender Sehwag doesn't spoon-feed him. "Personally, I hate the idea of trying to spoon-feed a cricketer as to what he needs to do in pressure situations. I have seen captains who love to dominate and direct a bowler about dos and don'ts in match situations," the Delhi Daredevils pacer told PTI in an exclusive interview.

IPL 5: Delhi, Kolkata in clash of the equals at Kotla

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One of the most awaited clashes of the Indian Premier League's season five will unfold when two teams sitting on top of the points table – Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders – meet at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla Ground on Monday. With both the teams through to the playoffs, a win for either will assert its supremacy over the other leading up to the knockout stage.

It won't be wrong to admit that just like Delhi, Kolkata is turning out to be the epitome of competitiveness this season. And the kind of camaraderie Gautam Gambhir has built around his boys has helped the team to script a revival of sorts.

Live Updates: Mumbai win a last-ball thriller

Mumbai Indian innings:

20th over: Mumbai 158 for 7. Ben Hilfenhaus bowls the last over and cleans Malinga up. Smith hits the fourth ball for a six to make it 8 from 2 to win and then smashes the fifth for four and then smacks the last ball for another boundary to win it for Mumbai Indians.

19th over: Mumbai 158 for 7. This is suicidal by Mumbai Indians they are losing wickets like pack of cards. Peterson is run out. du Plessis hits the stumps directly. Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh also falls trying to go for the maximum.