Rohit, Smith blast Mumbai Indians into CLT20 semifinals

Result: Mumbai Indians beat Perth Scorchers by six wickets with 40 balls remaining Toss: Mumbai Indians won the toss and chose to bowl first Perth Scorchers: 149 for 6 from 20 overs (Whitehead 51*, Coulter-Nile 3-19) The Perth openers - Ashton Agar and Simon Katich – started slowly, with just three three boundaries coming in the first six overs as Harbhajan Singh and Nathan Coulter-Nile kept things tight. The pair did manage to add 55 together, but it took 9.1 overs. Pragyan Ohja struck twice in the 10th over to remove Agar and Katich – both bowled – but that actually gave Perth a boost. Hilton Cartwright and Sam Whiteman proceeded to add 58 in 5.4 overs, with the pair ransacking Harbhajan’s last over for 18 runs. [caption id=“attachment_1148495” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rohit Sharma was brutal in making 51 from 24 balls. BCCI[/caption] Coulter-Nile came back to dismiss Cartwright (28) with a pin-point yorker, and picked up the wicket of AJ Turner with this very next delivery, but Whitehead was able to bat through the innings, bringing up his half-century with the second-last delivery of the innings and set Mumbai Indians the task of scoring at over 10 an over to reach the semi-finals. Mumbai Indians: 152 for 4 from 13.2 overs (Rohit Sharma 51*, Smith 48) Rohit Sharma chose to bat second so his side would know for sure how many overs they had to score the winnings runs. It is also why the team picked Glenn Maxwell for Mitchell Johnson. The first tactic worked, though the second did not. Sachin Tendulkar, playing what could have been his last T20 game, lasted two deliveries. With his team needing to score quickly, he clipped a full delivery straight to the man on the deep midwicket boundary, leaving the crowd stunned with the anti-climactic innings. Maxwell was sent in at three but he lasted just seven deliveries, and made just 10. However, Dwayne Smith had also struck some meaty blows, including a six off Michael Beer in the first over, and proceeded to tear apart the Perth bowlers with his captain for company. Rohit Sharma and Smith added 38 from just 2.2 overs, as MI got ahead of the required run-rate. Having made 48 from 24 balls, Smith looked like he had reached his half-century with another boundary but a spectacular diving catch by Behrendorff on the boundary cut the celebrations short. Rohit was in the mood though, and peppered the boundary with ease, launching Agar over the cover boundary and slog-sweeping Brad Hogg high into the Delhi sky and deep into the Delhi crowd. He also slammed Joel Paris for two fours and a six - 17 came from the 10th over as MI relentlessly closed in on their target. Rohit’s assault allowed Kieron Pollard to play the supporting role – one of the few times that has happened in the big West Indian’s career – and the pair took MI within 13 runs of victory before Pollard was bowled by Hogg. With 10 required from the last 8 balls, Ambati Rayudu finished off the match with consecutive sixes over long-on off Agar to send his team into the semi-finals and his team-mates into excited celebrations. Turning Point: Coulter-Nile’s dismissal of Cartwright halted Perth’s momentum. While Whitehead was able to continue until the end, had the pair lasted longer, Mumbai would have had a much tougher target to chase. Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma