The Mumbai Indians paid big money to buy Corey Anderson in the IPL auction earlier in the year. Overnight they got a return on their investment, as Anderson slogged his team into the IPL play-offs; Cricinfo reports:
The scenes at the Wankhede Stadium were scarcely believable as Mumbai Indians' turnaround of a campaign that had begun so disastrously culminated in the most fairy-tale of finishes. As Aditya Tare swung his first ball - James Faulkner's leg-stump full toss - over long leg to give Mumbai the boundary they needed to claw into the playoffs, Rahul Dravid rose from the dugout and flung his Rajasthan Royals cap to the ground as the team he was mentoring completed the most spectacular of meltdowns to lose an un-loseable game.The shambles that caused Dravid to lose his temper would have broken less-composed men much sooner. Despite the mad-scientist experiments in their last few matches, Royals had gone into this game with a hand full of aces. Mumbai Indians, having decided to chase, needed to achieve whatever target they were set in 14.3 overs to get ahead on net run rate. Royals set them 190.Corey Anderson, whom Mumbai picked in place of fast bowler Marchant de Lange, played the attack-shredding innings he had been bought to play but had failed to produce so far in the tournament. However, when Mumbai needed nine off three deliveries to win in 14.3 overs and qualify for the playoffs, Anderson could manage only a single off Faulkner's first to move to 95 off 44 balls and take his place at the non-striker's end.Faulkner had eight runs to defend off two balls, but that equation lurched heavily in favour of Mumbai when he delivered a leg-stump full toss that Ambati Rayudu smacked over the long-leg boundary. Rayudu then mis-timed what should have been the decisive ball of the match into the covers and would have been run out had Shane Watson hit at the bowler's end. But the throw was inaccurate and Rayudu was eventually run out attempting the overthrow that would have given Mumbai all they needed.That moment in the field capped a horrendous match for the Royals captain. Watson's timing had been incredibly poor during his struggle for 8 off 18 balls after opening the innings, and then he conceded 33 off two wicketless overs. As Mumbai began building the momentum of a runaway train, Watson looked listless and frazzled, and at times Brad Hodge was seen marshalling fielders to their positions.As Rayudu sank to his knees after his dismissal, gutted because he thought Mumbai had fallen so agonisingly short, chaos broke out around him. Calculators went to work off the field, the batsmen and fielders crowded the umpires for clarification, and play halted for several minutes. Some Royals players had begun to celebrate - 14.3 overs had been bowled and the scores were only tied, Mumbai had not won - but substitutes ran out with the message that it was not done yet. If Mumbai hit a boundary off the next ball, they would make it. And then Faulkner bowled an staggeringly loose full toss, Tare hit it for six, got in Watson's face, tugged his jersey over his head and celebrated like a footballer. Beyond the boundary, Dravid threw down his cap.The hero on the night was the man striding off the field, chest puffed, and wearing a smile as broad as his shoulders. Anderson had played only because Mumbai were in desperate need of men who could hit a long ball. His team-mates - Lendl Simmons, Michael Hussey, Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma - came out swinging but soon ran out of steam. Anderson's guns never stopped firing.
It's nearly lunchtime, so make yourself a cuppa, and enjoy Anderson's match-winning innings:
It's been a big year for Corey Anderson, but it's not finished yet. There's the small matter of a tour of the West Indies beckoning, with the first test match starting on 8th June. It will be great to see Anderson joining his teammates in the Carribean on the back of a significant innings under pressure.
He left it to the last minute, but today, Corey Anderson will be an absolute hero in Mumbai. This time a year ago he was barely known outside domestic cricket circles. What a difference a year makes.
