Chennai:&nbsp;Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai&nbsp;Super Kings by six wickets in a breathtaking finish to record&nbsp;their fifth successive win of the Indian Premier League here&nbsp;today.
Needing 30 runs off the last 12 balls, Hardik Pandya (21&nbsp;not out of 8 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (34 off 19) smashed&nbsp;left-arm spinner Pawan Negi for 25 runs in the penultimate&nbsp;over to tilt the high-pressure game in Mumbai's favour.&nbsp;
Mumbai took two balls to knock off the five runs needed&nbsp;in the final over, ending at 159/4. Super Kings had recovered&nbsp;to post 158 for five in 20 overs.
Pandya was the star of the night as he backed his effort&nbsp;on the field by hitting three sixes in the 19th over, proving&nbsp;to be the difference in the end.&nbsp;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2015/may/0805pandya.jpg" alt="Hardik Pandya" />Mumbai Indians' Hardik Pandya hits a six against CSK in Chennai on Friday night. Pic/BCCI
Super Kings remained at top in the points table despite&nbsp;their first defeat at home this season while Mumbai added to&nbsp;their remarkable turnaround with a fifth win in as many games.
They are now fourth in the standings with six wins and five&nbsp;losses.
The away team made a flying start in the chase, racing&nbsp;to 61 for no loss in six overs.
Parthiv Patel (45) was aggressive from the outset,&nbsp;getting his first four with a exquisite punch on a length ball&nbsp;from medium pacer Mohit Sharma.&nbsp;
Simmons soon joined in punishing the bowlers, especially&nbsp;in-form speedster Ashish Nehra, smashing the experienced&nbsp;Indian for a six and couple of fours.&nbsp;
Having already off to their best start of the season,&nbsp;Mumbai were cruising at 84 for no loss in 10 overs.
The momentum shifted dramatically in the next over when&nbsp;R Ashwin removed the openers in space of four balls, sending&nbsp;the partisan crowd into a frenzy.
And soon it became 86 for three as Dwayne Bravo had his&nbsp;West Indies teammate run out Kieron Pollard with a spectacular&nbsp;direct hit. Super Kings were right back into the game out of&nbsp;nowhere.
Mumbai, needing 58 runs off the last 30 balls, were now&nbsp;relying heavily on skipper Rohit Sharma and Rayudu. The&nbsp;seasoned pair took the team closer the to target by hammering&nbsp;Nehra for 17 runs in the 17th over, their team still needing&nbsp;34 off 18 balls.
While Rohit got out, Rayudu led his team to a thrilling&nbsp;win.
Earlier, M S Dhoni (39 not out off 32 balls) and Negi (36&nbsp;off 17) smashed 55 off the last five overs to push their team&nbsp;to a fighting total after it struggled for runs in major part&nbsp;of the innings.
The home team had a rather quiet start by the&nbsp;standards of their explosive openers as they reached 44 for&nbsp;one in the first six overs.&nbsp;
Brendon McCullum (23 off 11) was given a life early on&nbsp;with Harbhajan Singh dropping a simple catch at backward&nbsp;square leg off left-arm spinner J Suchith.
It seemed the New Zealander will make Mumbai pay for&nbsp;their mistake when he hit three successive fours off medium&nbsp;pacer Vinay Kumar. However, much to the relief of the&nbsp;visitors, the dangerous batsman was caught at deep mid-wicket&nbsp;the next ball after he mistimed another hit off the Karnataka&nbsp;bowler.
His opening partner Dwayne Smith (27 off 34) too was&nbsp;holed out at deep-midwicket, as well as Suresh Raina (10), who&nbsp;was sent back with a brilliant running catch by Hardik Pandya,&nbsp;leaving Super Kings at 67/3 in 10 overs. Pandya was the&nbsp;catcher in all three dismissals.
Faf du Plessis (17) and Dhoni then gathered 39 runs for&nbsp;the fourth wicket but just when they looked ready for the&nbsp;death overs onslaught, the South African fell to a leaping&nbsp;catch by Simmons off pacer Mitchell McClenaghan.
Dhoni now had Negi by his side and the Delhi-based&nbsp;cricketer, coming ahead of Ravindra Jadeja, did not disappoint&nbsp;his skipper, smashing four fours and a six in quick time.
The captain too got into the groove late into his&nbsp;innings, collecting two sixes and as many boundaries to the&nbsp;delight of his fans at Chepauk.&nbsp;

Mumbai Indians jumped to the fourth spot in the IPL standings with a crucial six-wicket win over hosts Chennai Super Kings in a group league match at the M.A Chaidambaram Stadium

IPL 8: Mumbai Indians breach CSK's fortress for 5th straight win

IPL-8: Kolkata Knight Riders in for another spin

Mumbai Indians jumped to the fourth spot in the IPL standings with a crucial six-wicket win over hosts Chennai Super Kings in a group league match at the M.A Chaidambaram Stadium

IPL 8: Mumbai Indians breach CSK's fortress for 5th straight win

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / Sports / Cricket / Article / IPL 8: Mumbai Indians breach CSK's fortress for 5th straight win

IPL 8: Mumbai Indians breach CSK's fortress for 5th straight win

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast