Harbhajan Singh needed only 18 balls when he batted, and just one delivery when he bowled, to win the game for Mumbai Indians.
Double-strikes from RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha had reduced Mumbai to 119 for 7, but Harbhajan played a wickedly-entertaining cameo to charge his team to 172.
He wasn’t done yet and opened the bowling to remove Adam Gilchrist with his second delivery, dealing the most crippling blow to the Deccan Chargers chase.
The game changed in a Mumbai minute at the DY Patil Stadium.
When Harbhajan entered in the 17th over Mumbai had lost the plot after a good start, but he led a stunning turnaround with an 18-ball 49.
He hit a six and a four off Andrew Symonds in the 18th over but it was in the next, bowled by Kemar Roach, who until then had looked impressive, that he went berserk.
Harbhajan started with a slapped four over extra cover before swinging merrily to the on side, including a shovelled six over square-leg, to plunder 19 runs.
In the final over bowled by two bowlers – Jaskaran Singh was no-balled out of the innings after hurling two beamers and Rohit Sharma finished the over- Harbhajan crashed four boundaries, this time concentrating on the straight boundary.
Deccan needed a blitz from Gilchrist when they chased but he was undone by the combo of Harbhajan and Sachin Tendulkar.
He edged an attempted cut low to the right of first slip where Tendulkar held on to a sharp one-handed catch.
Herschelle Gibbs blasted a few boundaries but he fell, swatting a full toss from Zaheer Khan to cover point, and when Lasith Malinga induced Andrew Symonds to slash a short delivery to third man, the game was all but over.
Rohit Sharma tried valiantly with an attacking knock but Harbhajan ensured that he didn’t get much support by picking up two more middle-order wickets. Zaheer returned in the 17th over to york Rohit and terminate the chase.
Scoreboard
Mumbai Indians innings
S Dhawan lbw b Jaskaran Singh 8
SR Tendulkar* c †Gilchrist b Singh 55
DJ Bravo c Symonds b Singh 23
SS Tiwary c †Gilchrist b Singh 4
AT Rayudu† st †Gilchrist b Ojha 6
R Sathish c Suman b Ojha 3
KA Pollard c Suman b Jaskaran Singh 1
R McLaren not out 13
Harbhajan Singh not out 49
Extras (b 1, w 5, nb 4) 10
Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 172
Did not bat Z Khan, SL Malinga
Fall of wickets1-24 (Dhawan, 3.3 ov), 2-64 (Bravo, 7.3 ov), 3-68 (Tiwary, 7.6 ov), 4-84 (Rayudu, 10.4 ov), 5-92 (Sathish, 12.1 ov), 6-93 (Pollard, 13.1 ov), 7-119 (Tendulkar, 16.4 ov)
Bowling:Roach 4 0 32 0 (2w) Singh 3 0 30 2 (4nb, 1w) Ojha 4 0 24 2 RP Singh 4 0 31 3 (1w) Symonds 4 0 40 0 (1w) Sharma 1 0 14 0
Deccan Chargers innings
AC Gilchrist*† c Tendulkar b Harbhajan Singh 0
MD Mishra c McLaren b Malinga 13
HH Gibbs c Pollard b Khan 27
A Symonds c Bravo b Malinga 1
RG Sharma b Khan 45
TL Suman c & b Harbhajan Singh 15
Y Venugopal Rao c McLaren b Pollard 7
Jaskaran Singh c sub (JP Duminy) b Harbhajan Singh 1
KAJ Roach b Khan 10
RP Singh b Malinga 1
PP Ojha not out 0
Extras (b 2, lb 5, w 4) 11
Total(all out; 17.4 overs) 131
Fall of wickets1-0 (Gilchrist, 0.2 ov), 2-47 (Gibbs, 4.5 ov), 3-49 (Mishra, 5.2 ov), 4-50 (Symonds, 5.6 ov), 5-81 (Suman, 10.4 ov), 6-100 (Venugopal Rao, 13.1 ov), 7-116 (Jaskaran Singh, 14.3 ov), 8-130 (Sharma, 16.4 ov), 9-131 (Roach, 16.6 ov), 10-131 (Singh, 17.4 ov)
Bowling:Singh 4 0 31 3 (2w)McLaren 3 0 24 0 (1w) Khan 3 0 21 3
Malinga 3.4 0 12 3 (1w)Bravo 2 0 16 0 Pollard 2 0 20 1
Points Mumbai Indians 2, Deccan Chargers 0
Player of the match Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians)
Umpires S Das and K Hariharan
TV umpire DJ Harper (Australia)
Match referee GR Viswanath
Reserve umpire SN Bandekar
