The Rahane-Shah stand and Munaf's eight

Not very different from the way he moves in the field, Munaf has sauntered to the top of wicket-takers list. The surprise was that he did it in a bowling line-up led by Lasith Malinga and supported by Kieron Pollard, both of whom have also done some damage of their own.

Munaf opened the bowling with Harbhajan Singh in Visakhapatnam against the Chargers and took only four balls to account for Parthiv Patel. In his next over, he had Bharat Chipli caught at mid-on. But after his spell, Chargers attacked other Mumbai Indian bowlers and racked up 62 runs in the ensuing eight overs. He returned in the 13th over to remove Kumar Sangakkara amid controversy and came back in the 18th over to take out the top-scorer, Daniel Christian. Munaf's spell of four for 20 kept the batsmen guessing as he bowled a mix of just short of good length deliveries and yorkers. The Chargers were restricted to a below-par 138, which Mumbai Indians overhauled after a last ball six from Rohit Sharma.

In the home game against Rajasthan Royals, Pollard had already done the damage with the bat as Mumbai Indians had posted 197 on the board. During the chase, Royals started with caution against Malinga. But if they thought they could attack the other end, they were to be struck a blow by Munaf who took out Rahul Dravid and Shreevats Goswami off consecutive balls. He came back in the death overs and bowled smartly to take two more wickets and the purple cap.

Shah has previously represented Daredevils, Knight Riders and Kochi Tuskers in the IPL without much success. However, he was brought in by the Royals as a replacement for Shane Warne and he has been on top form this week. He totalled 167 runs in the three games this week and scored 203 runs in partnership with Rahane, who himself scored 162 runs in these games.

Last week, Royals played their first away game in Mumbai and lost by 27 runs. That they came close to the mammoth total was mainly due to the 82-run partnership between Shah and Rahane. When Shah joined Rahane in the second over, the Royals were seven for two. It was in the third over that Rahane took the charge by belting Munaf for a four and a six. Rahane's well-timed shots were complemented by Shah's powerful hits to bring the score to 89 after 11 overs. Rahane's departure put the responsibility solely on Shah who responded by taking 35 runs off the 13th and the 14th over. He scored 70 which included five towering hits to the stands.

In their last game in Bangalore, the show was set for Royal Challenger's power hitters. But, it was Rahane and Shah again who put up a 121-run partnership in 8.2 overs that helped Royals set up a total of 195. In the process, Rahane got to his century - first of this IPL - which was laced with five sixes and 12 boundaries. At the other end, Shah was brutal in his 26-ball 60. Rahane played textbook shots and hit S Aravind for six boundaries in the 14th over, first time . At the other end, Shah launched an attack on Chris Gayle nicking 21 runs off his over. Even Muttiah Muralitharan was smacked for 17 runs by the pair in his last over. The crowd in Bangalore came to watch some exhilarating strokeplay and that is what they got, although from the visitors.

Morkel played only seven balls in the game against Royal Challengers. Six of them came from Virat Kohli and the sequence read - 4,6,4,6,2,6. His 28 off that over was the most impactful innings of the week and it helped Super Kings pull off an unlikely last ball victory.