With just over a week remaining in the league stage, the race for the Playoffs was getting hotter and hotter. Hence, it was a crucial game between two Playoff hopefuls – the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders – at the Eden Gardens, on this day exactly three years ago.

Mumbai Indians had finally been blessed to have a fit Herchelle Gibbs, who was set for his MI debut after being side lined for more than half of the league stage, due to an injury. And the South African was into his elements straightaway as Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh, elected to bat. A rare early dismissal for Sachin Tendulkar meant Rohit Sharma had to walk in at No 3 in the third over. Little did the Kolkata crowd know that Tendulkar’s would be the only wicket to fall, in the entire first half of the game.

Gibbs had made his intentions clear even before Sharma walked in, by smacking Brett Lee for three fours in the second over of the game. Sharma then went after the left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan, hitting him for two fours and a six in his third over. The visitors scored in excess of eight runs per over in the Powerplay, and gave early signs; that it won’t be a low scoring game, as had been the norm at the Eden that season.

Runs came mostly in singles for the next few overs before Rohit launched into Kallis, hitting him for two fours and a six. Rohit hammered Rajat Bhatia for three fours and a six to take Mumbai Indians to 132 for one with five overs to play.

The Mumbai Indian’s Hitman was racing towards his hundred now, and he brought it up in style, hitting Lee for two fours and a six in the 17th over. Sharma’s 52-ball 100, his first ton in IPL, included 11 fours and five sixes. Sharma-Gibbs finished with an unbroken 167-run stand off 106 balls, as the duo smashed 106 runs in the last 10 overs. Gibbs showed a lot of maturity in his 58-ball 66-run knock, and helped the visitors score 182 for 1; a massive total considering the conditions.

With runs on the board, all the visitors needed was a disciplined effort in the field. And Munaf Patel gave them the best possible start by removing in-form rival skipper Gautam Gambhir off the third delivery. Ojha sent the other opener Manvinder Bisla back in the next over as the scoreboard read four for two, after two overs. Jacques Kallis played a cracking 79-run knock for the hosts, but all the Mumbai Indian’s bowlers stuck to their line and length, to ensure that the required run-rate always remained out of reach for the hosts. In the end, Harbhajan’s men restricted the hosts to 155 for 4, to complete a comprehensive 27-run win.