Durban: Openers Michael Klinger and Daniel Harris scripted a dramatic run chase as South Australia inflicted a humiliating five-wicket defeat on Mumbai Indians in a thrilling Champions League Twenty20 match on Tuesday.
Skipper Klinger (50) and Harris (56) shared an 81-ball 112-run opening partnership to set the foundation for the successful run chase as South Australia reached the target with three balls to spare and inched closer to the semifinal berth.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians recovered from a shaky start to post a challenging 180/7, courtesy a solid batting display by Saurabh Tiwary (44), Ambati Rayudu (38) and Kieron Pollard (36).
Mumbai Indians paid the price for their sloppy fielding and pathetic bowling to succumb to their second defeat in as many matches and now stands on the brink of elimination.
Chasing 181 to win, South Australia made a watchful start and reached 27 for no loss in the first five overs, with Michael Klinger and Daniel Harris hitting two and one boundary respectively.
Opener Harris (56), who was dropped twice -- at seven by Sachin Tendulkar and at 18 by Tiwary -- sent Ali Murtaza for a six over long-on in the sixth over before top edging one for a four at third man.
Klinger also got into the act and sweeped one hard over square leg for a flat six as South Australia slowly and steadily cantered to 69 in first 10 overs.
Klinger brought up two more sixes in the next over off Dwayne Bravo and Harris top-edged one for a boundary to frustrate the Mumbai Indians.
Harris hammered two more fours and a couple of sixes to take South Australia across the 100-mark.
But Murtaza brought MI back into the game, getting rid off Harris, who finally hold out to Duminy at extra cover.
An over later, Lasith Malinga dismissed the other opener Klinger, who had just reached his fifty.
Looking for a six, Klinger ended up giving a straight catch to Dwayne Bravo at long-on boundary as Mumbai fought back, reducing South Australia to 116/2 in 14.3 overs.
Murtaza struck again in the next over, dismissing Graham Manou (12), who found Tiwary at deep backward square leg.
Daniel Christian then hammered a four at extra cover but Malinga struck in the last ball, when he had Callum Ferguson caught by Murtaza in the 17th over.
Needing 41 runs from 18 balls, Christian picked up a boundary between long-on and deep midwicket, while new man Cameron Borgas clubbed two more fours as Bravo bled 16 runs to swing the match in South Australia's favour.
Zaheer Khan then removed Christian in the next over but Borgas blasted a four and a six to amass 14 runs to keep them in the hunt.
Needing 11 off the last over, Tom Cooper smashed a huge six over and a four of Harbhajan Singh to complete a much-deserving win at Kingsmead.
Earlier, Tiwary smashed 44 with the help of one four and four sixes to resurrect the Mumbai innings after they were tottering at 47/3 in 7.3 overs.
Electing to bat first, Mumbai Indians had a disastrous start as they lost opener Shikar Dhawan (2) in the second over with the scoreboard reading just 3.
Tendulkar (20) tried to break free and clobbered a six and a couple of fours to accumulate 14 runs off Daniel Christian's first over to take MI to 31/1 in 5 overs.
But left-arm spinner Aaron O'Brien dismissed Tendulkar in the last ball of the next over to leave Mumbai tottering at 35/2.
Trying to accelerate, Tendulkar stepped out of his crease and swung hard, only to see his stumps all over the surface.
Silent all this while, Ambati Rayudu (38) then smashed O'Brien straight over his head for a six but the spinner bounced back to caught and bowl J P Duminy (3) in the third ball of the eighth over.
With the South Australian bowlers bowling a tight line, Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary kept dealing in singles as boundaries dried up.
After three silent overs, Rayudu smashed a four bisecting the deep square leg and deep midwicket and followed it up with a six over deep extra cover to pick up 12 runs off O'Brien's over.
But the wicketkeeper-batsman couldn't stay long as Cullen Bailey sent him packing with Daniel Harris pulling off a brilliant catch to reduce MI to 73/4 in 12.1 overs.
However, unperturbed by the dismissal Tiwary blasted Bailey over long-off for a flat six, while new man Kieron Pollard also followed suit with another maximum.
Pollard fired another six over wide long-on off Daniel Christian to bring up the 100 for Mumbai Indians in 14 overs.
Tiwary went completely berserk in the 16th over, blasting a four and three consecutive sixes off O'Brien to amass 25 runs as MI reached 137/4.
With Tiwary looking unstoppable, Shaun Tait was brought back into the attack and the pacer struck in his first ball, removing Tiwary, who holed out to Callum Ferguson at mid-off.
Pollard and Dwayne Bravo then carried the innings forward adding 33 runs off 18 balls to take MI across the 150-mark, before being dismissed in the 20th over. PTI
