Pollard finally lived up to his bumper signing with a brutal innings that undermined what, for the most part, had been a spirited performance from Delhi’s bowlers, and confirmed Mumbai’s place in the final four. His 13-ball 45, laced with five sixes, powered Mumbai to a challenging score to which Delhi, despite their power-packed line-up, failed to measure up. The 39-run defeat leaves Delhi tied with at least three other teams on 12 points from 12 games, leaving no margin for error from now in their aim to reach the semi-final.

On a track that was aiding movement, spin and bounce, Delhi, who had kept Mumbai on a leash for much of their innings, faltered badly at the death. And when David Warner and Virender Sehwag had blazed away in their chase, they squandered the early edge despite reprieves offered by Mumbai’s fielders.

In what proved to be the match-turning event, Gautam Gambhir bestowed medium-pacer Andrew McDonald with the responsibility of bowling the last over of Mumbai’s innings. Facing him was Pollard, who had looked adept against pace but lacked conviction against the spin of Sarabjit Ladda, whom he had edged and miscued in his previous over. Mumbai, despite their acceleration, could still have ended with a below-par total but McDonald doled out two full tosses and a short delivery that were dismissed for sixes in an over that fetched 25, taking Mumbai’s tally in the last five to 75.

Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and decided to bat against Delhi Daredevils at the Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday.

Mumbai have already qualified for the semi-finals after beating Rajasthan Royals in their last game, while Delhi, who were beaten by Kings XI Punjab at home, must win two out of their remaining three games to have a chance to qualify.

Mumbai made four changes to their line-up, bringing in Dilhara Fernando, Dwayne Bravo, Ali Murtaza and Chandan Madan in place of Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Dhawal Kulkarni and R Sathish. Delhi, on the other hand, replaced Daniel Vettori, Farveez Maharoof and Rajat Bhatia with AB de Villiers, Andrew McDonald and Sarabjeet Ladda.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (capt), Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, Jean-Paul Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Chandan Madan, Zaheer Khan, Dilhara Fernando, Ali Murtaza.

Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Paul Collingwood, AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik, Andrew McDonald, Amit Mishra, Sarabjeet Ladda, Ashish Nehra, Pradeep Sangwan.