Mumbai Indians do the impossible against Rajasthan Royals

MUMBAI: It was a miracle. A kind of game you would never have seen in IPL history.
With the Mumbai Indians needing a four to qualify for the playoffs, Aditya Tare, having just walked in after Ambati Rayadu's dismissal, smashed seamer James Faulkner into the deep square-leg stands for a massive six to seal the spot and pull off an incredible win for the defending champs, at the Wankhede on Sunday.
The Rajasthan Royals, thus, failed to make the cut despite having put on a formidable 189 for four in 20 overs.
While Royals' mentor and cricket great Rahul Dravid reflected the disgust in the Royals camp, Tare, with his delighted teammates sprinting behind him, ran towards the cheering crowd and took off his shirt as if he had scored a goal in a soccer game.
The hero of the mind-boggling feat, for MI, though, was Corey Anderson. Having been dropped for three games after a poor show that hardly justified his Rs 4.5 crore price tag, the Kiwi left-hander came to the party in an unbelievable fashion-blasting an unbeaten 95 (44b, 9x4, 6x6) to ensure the hosts razed down the 190-run target in just 14.4 overs.
MI needed 189 off 14.3, but after confusion, it emerged that they could make it if the fourth ball went for a boundary. Having made it here through a last-minute dash, they will now play the Chennai Super Kings in the Eliminator at the Brabourne Stadium on Wednesday.
Anderson's 81-run fifth-wicket stand in 31 balls with Ambati Rayudu, who chipped in with a vital 10-ball 30, sealed the fabulous chase, though the Royals' have reason to be disappointed by the horrible show of their bowlers. Faulkner went for 54 in 3.4 overs, while Dhawal Kulkarni gave away 42 in his three.
Earlier, the Royals were powered by brilliant knocks from their 'youth brigade' in Sanju Samson (74, 47b, 7x4, 3x6), and Karun Nair (50, 27b, 7x4, 2x6).
With skipper Shane Watson struggling thought his 18-ball eight run stay, the Royals started poorly, with only Samson keeping the runs flowing through his glorious strokemaking ability. The 19-year-old, however, found the ideal partner in Nair after Watson's departure as the young turks added 100 in merely 57 balls to tear MI's bowling to shreds.
Both made merry against the spin trio of Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Shreyas Gopal-sweeping and pulling them for sixes at will. MI's decision to play three spinners on Sunday night proved to be disastrous.
The slow bowlers went for 112 runs in 10 overs Samson took 36 balls for his fifty, while Nair, who provided the real acceleration to the Royals', got to his in just 26.
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
May 27: Qualifier 1: KKR vs KXIP (Eden Gardens)
May 28: Eliminator: MI vs CSK (Brabourne Stadium)
May 30: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Eliminator (Wankhede Stadium)
June 1: Final (Chinnaswamy Stadium).