Dubai: Aditya Tare hit a six from his first ball to take Mumbai Indians into the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs in the most dramatic fashion at the Wankhede Stadium here last night.
Rohit Sharma’s side needed a big win over Rajasthan Royals in the final match of the group stage to overtake their fourth-placed visitors on net run-rate.
And their hopes looked bleak when the Royals racked up 189 for four batting first, with Sanju Samson (74) and Karun Nair (50) hitting half-centuries.
That meant they had just 14.3 overs to score 190 runs. A brutal Corey Anderson innings took Mumbai to 189 in that time and the hosts were left distraught — but some frantic calculations revealed a boundary off the next ball would be good enough.
So up stepped Tare and he dispatched a dismal leg-stump full toss from James Faulkner high into the stands to spark wild celebrations.
Big money signing Anderson came good at the perfect time for Mumbai, who will now face Chennai Super Kings in the Eliminator match on Wednesday. The New Zealand all-rounder hit nine fours and six sixes in a 44-ball innings of 95, while he also found some good late support from Ambati Rayudu (30 off 10).
