The China Mail - Leaders Bengaluru edge to last-ball win over Mumbai

Naman Dhir top-scored with 47 as Mumbai clawed their way to 166-7 but a blazing half-century by Krunal Pandya set Bengaluru on their way at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, their second ‘home’ this season.

Victory for the defending champions and current leaders Bengaluru eliminated Mumbai from the race for the playoffs as well as Lucknow Super Giants who were beaten by Chennai Super Kings earlier in the day.

"It’s a crucial two points for us. If we’d lost that one, we would have been under pressure," said swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar whose 4-23 earned him the player of the match award.

The 36-year-old rocked Mumbai at the start of their innings with three wickets in his first 12 deliveries.

After removing Ryan Rickelton in the first over, he then had Rohit Sharma caught behind for a belligerent 22 and, next ball, stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav caught smartly at wide slip by Virat Kohli for a golden duck.

Tilak Varma staved off the hat-trick and orchestrated a rescue act in the company of Dhir on an up-and-down surface of unpredictable bounce.

They added 82 for the fourth wicket but once Dhir fell, the innings petered out with only 35 runs coming in the last five overs.

Bengaluru lost Kohli for a second successive duck, caught at mid-off off Deepak Chahar.

South African Corbin Bosch then ripped through the middle order with four wickets, as the holders made heavy weather of a challenging chase.

But the left-handed Pandya, promoted to No. 5, took it upon himself to punish his former franchise, unleashing a breathtaking array of strokes that had a capacity crowd eating out of his hands.

Pandya steadied the ship alongside England's Jacob Bethell (27) during a fourth-wicket stand of 55 and then went on the attack with Jitesh Sharma.

They looked on course for victory when Pandya smacked two sixes off AM Ghazanfar in the 18th over but he was dismissed off the last ball for 1 46-ball 73 to put the game back in the balance.

Bawa was tasked with defending 15 in the final over but failed to do so, bowling three wides and a no-ball and then conceding a six over cover off the fourth ball to Bhuvneshwar.

“I have bowled many times and taken a few wickets, but (it’s) the six I will enjoy the most,” said Bhuvneshwar.

Amidst mounting tension, Rasikh carried the night, consigning Mumbai to their eighth loss in 11 matches.

Q.Yam--ThChM