The team hat-trick that wasn't
Aizaz Cheema had thrust Pakistan to the Asia Cup title in 2012 by defending nine in the final over against Bangladesh. Mumbai Indians received a reminder of those skills with the seamer was on a hat-trick in the fourth over. Lendl Simmons, wary of a run-rate under seven, ran down the track and chipped to mid-off. Jalaj Saxena, on debut for Mumbai, was hiked up to No. 3 and was undone by a beautiful awayswinger. Ambati Rayudu only barely avoided being a third casualty in as many balls, but Saad Nasim missed the target at the non-strikers' end.
The start
Adnan Rasool, the 33-year-old offspinner, has been touted as a possible replacement for the suspended Saeed Ajmal and his first ball lent credence to that assessment. He came in with Mumbai on 72 for 4 and made them more nervous when a flighted delivery bounced in to knock a surprised Kieron Pollard on his glove. In the 15th over, Rasool cut Pollard in half. Instinct caused the batsman to poke the bat down, but the delivery turned and skidded through the gap between bat and pad but missed leg stump. Rasool has roamed the Pakistan domestic circuit for 12 years and was around the fringes of the national team in 2005-06. Having stymied one of the most fancied T20 teams around, his case might just be revisited.
The end
Pollard was elevated to captain for Mumbai and their press release said he was the "automatic choice" but 6 off 14 balls with no boundaries was not quite the start he would have hoped for. And the ball that finally did him in was a beauty. Imran Ali brought out the yorker and nailed it - he beat the batsman for pace, the ball sneaked under the bat and pinged the base of the stumps.
The leap
Praveen Kumar was hunting quick runs, as is necessary in the final over. He tried to whip a fuller ball out of the ground but a leading edge foiled his attempts, though he still got four for it. It swirled over the mid-off region and Saad Nasim hared after it, tracking the ball from over his shoulder. He flung his hands at the ball, which leapt off them and hurtled away to the boundary with Nasim scrambling after it.
The single that wasn't
Mumbai had to conjure wickets with only 136 to defend. Pollard did his bit when he took a good catch to dismiss Ahmed Shehzad. Aditya Tare bettered his captain's efforts to get rid of the other opener Nasir Jamshed. The ball was tossed up on off stump by Harbhajan Singh and the batsman was looking to dab a single. Jamshed set off without realising that his push had been deflected off his pad. Tare was alive to the opportunity, grabbed the ball and whipped off the bails rather smartly.