Blues won the match by 28 for five to beat Mumbai Indians

Chennai, Oct 2 (IANS) New South Wales recovered brilliantly from 28 for five to beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets for their second win in the Nokia Champions League T20 tournament, here Sunday.

On a pitch that was at once a hero and villain with its inconsistent and slow bounce, the Mumbai Indians crashed to 100 for seven in their 20 overs and then had the Blues on the ropes, but Steve Smith (45 not out) and Ben Rohrer (26 not out) put on 73 runs for the sixth wicket as the Australian outfit made 101 for five in 17 overs.

Blues now have four points after three games while Mumbai Indians remain on five and have completed their league engagements.

It was new ball bowler Abu Nechim who did the early damage as he picked up three wickets to leave the Blues in a precarious position before Smith and Rohrer scripted a fine rescue act.

The Blues could not have asked for a worse start as they lost three wickets in a matter of 11 deliveries with just 17 runs on the board in three overs.

Abu Nechim, who opened the bowling with Malinga, removed openers Shane Watson and David Warner in his very first over. A Malinga toe-crusher then trapped skipper Simon Katich plumb in front to put Mumbai on top.

Watson was a trifle unlucky as the ball struck his pads and then rolled on to the stumps while Warner, after two consecutive boundaries, fell prey to the inconsistent bounce as he drove uppishly to extra-cover where Harbhajan held an easy catch three deliveries later, and Katich had no clue to Malinga's yorker in the next over.

Harbhajan persisted with Malinga and Nechim, giving each a third over. The move paid off as Nechim had Daniel Smith edging behind to Ambatti Rayudu as Blues slid to 24 for 4 in the sixth over. Nechim ended his three-over spell with figures of 3 for 13.

Worse was in store for the Blues as Moises Henriques departed in the seventh, adjudged leg before to young leggie Yuzvendra Chahal who had replaced Malinga.

The dismissal brought Steve Smith and Rohrer together and the duo batted sensibly, eschewing risk. The two batsmen battled quite brilliantly, knocking the ball around and building up a partnership that eventually turned the tide in Blues' favour.

Earlier, it was a most tame going for the Mumbai Indians as there was neither momentum nor much aggression as the score dawdled along while wickets fell at regular intervals.

As well as the Blues bowled and showed great discipline in sticking to the basics of line and length, the Mumbai batsmen, almost without exception, struggled.

Franklin's fighting 42 was the saving grace for Mumbai Indians whose total just about reached three figures with the lower-order batsmen Rajagopal Sathish (14 off 16) and Harbhajan Singh (15 off 14) knocking the ball about for some useful runs.

Yet again, the two big-hitters in Mumbai ranks, Andrew Symonds and Kieron Pollard barely made an impression, neither being able to get going and getting out playing injudicious shots.