A nail biting finish in cricket is what every neutral fan hopes for. There is a special thrill to watch a match where the end result is in doubt until the last over if not the last ball. This is not true for fans who support a particular team as they literally have their hearts in their mouths.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a much vaunted finisher who regularly finishes off matches at the death for India. Recently, in the 1st T20I against West Indies he got out of the last ball to disappoint the legion of Indian supporters.

Let us look at 5 instances where the Mumbai Indians won nail biting matches in the last over.

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, Wankhede Stadium, 25th May 2014

Rajasthan Royals were inserted by the opposition and scored 189/4 off their 20 overs. MI needed to score 190 in 14.3 overs to qualify for the playoffs. They could take a few balls more if they scored more than the 190 needed. MI went after the bowling from the word go and were 53/1 off 4 overs. MI needed 8 runs off 2 balls to qualify, when Ambati Rayudu hit a six off James Faulkner to bring the equation down to 2 off 1 ball. Rayudu scored 1 run off the next ball but was run out. Mumbai needed a boundary off the next ball to qualify and Aditya Tare deposited a full toss from Faulkner for a six over fine-leg to seal MI’s place in the playoffs

Mumbai Indians vs Pune Warriors, Wankhede Stadium, 20TH April 2011

Pune Warriors won the toss and elected to bat and were bowled out for 118 in 17.2 overs. MI played sensibly and needed 5 runs off the last over. The equation came down to 1 run off 1 ball. Rohit Sharma hit Murali Karthik for a six over extra cover off the last ball and Mumbai won by 7 wickets.

Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab, Brabourne Stadium, 30Th Mar 2010

Kings XI Punjab elected to bat first and were all out for 163 off their 20 overs. MI were 63/1 off 8 overs with Kieron Pollard and Shikhar Dhawan at the crease. With 19 runs needed off the last 2 overs, R Sathish struck Ravi Bopara for 3 fours off the penultimate over. Harbhajan Singh and R Sathish took MI home with 2 balls to spare.

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, Brabourne Stadium, 25th Mar 2010.

Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to field. CSK scored 180/2 off their 20 overs. For MI, Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar put on a partnership of 92 for the first wicket to put MI on course for victory. Tendulkar played a crucial knock hitting Thisara Perera for 4 fours in the 16th over to tilt the match in MI’s favour. Tendulkar was out in the penultimate over for 72, but Dwayne Bravo struck a six and a single off the fifth and sixth ball of the over to power MI to victory by 5 wickets with an over to spare.

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals: Brabourne Stadium, 13th Mar 2010

Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting with Sanath Jayasuriya and got MI off to a brisk start. They scored a mammoth 212/6 off their allotted 20 overs. In Reply, RR were 201/5 after 19 overs and required 12 runs off the last over. Paras Dogra was run out of the first ball and A. Uniyal was bowled by Lasith Malinga off the second. RR needed 6 runs off the last ball and Malinga bowled a perfect yorker of the last ball to deny Dimittri Mascarenhas who could only manage a single. MI had won a nail-biter by 4 runs.

These are 5 occasions where MI triumphed in close encounters.