From the iSport Cricket Paddock: Mumbai Indians tops the IPL Score table with their win against the Deccan Chargers. A thrilled fan and iSporter Rajas Joshi pens his post-match analysis.
This clash between the Mumbai Indians and the Deccan Chargers was at the D.Y. Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai, a ground where only the Chargers have defeated MI in the past. But Mumbai were a different unit this time round, and were out to set the record straight.
The evening started off on a very reverential note - the original Little Master, Sunil Gavaskar, bowing down to the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar when he came out for the toss! This was for the double hundred Tendulkar scored against South Africa.
Deccan won the toss and elected to field. MI started off slowly getting nineteen of the first three overs. But even in these three overs, there were glimpses of what was in store – Kemar Roach banging in some good balls at high speeds to unsettle Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar caressing a drive through the off-side, to a Jaskaran Singh good length delivery, with balance most batsmen can only dream of!
Dhawan fell soon after and MI sent in Dwayne Bravo who did not waste any time before he got going. In his cameo of 23 (16 balls), he hit a huge six and three stylish boundaries.
While Tendulkar at one end was playing as he always does, scoring runs at ease, the rest seemed to be in a hurry to catch the Virar Fast. Instead of playing around their in-form Captain, Saurabh Tiwary along with Ambati Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish and Keiron Pollard threw away their wickets cheaply trying to go for too many too early. During this phase of hara-kiri, Mumbai lost five wickets scoring only 37 runs in eight overs leaving Mumbai reeling at 100/6 at the end of fifteen overs.
Tendulkar, realising the hole MI was getting itself into, had already started playing calculated shots and with some deft touches and exquisite boundaries brought up his third consecutive half-century, and fourth in five innings. He fell for 55 which came of 43 deliveries and included nine shots to the fence!
MI was 110 after 17 overs. Harbhajan Singh had just come in the centre two balls ago. Whack! Bang! Boom! “Bhajji” went berserk and smashed every bowler he faced, whether it was his ‘old friend’ Andrew Symonds, speedster Roach, Jaskaran Singh or Rohit Sharma. It was as if there was storm and the Chargers were blown apart. Within the span of three overs, which included two massive sixes and eight fours, the momentum had shifted. The body language said everything as Harbhajan was all charged up, lifting the Mumbai spirits, after his 49 not out of just 18 deliveries. DC was set a target of 173.
Two years back when these two faced each other at this very ground, Adam Gilchrist tore the Mumbai bowling apart, scoring a breath-taking hundred of forty odd balls. One could not help but rewind and wonder if he would get off to another flyer.
Tendulkar opened with Harbhajan Singh and all the speculation regarding Gilchrist taking the game away was laid to rest when ‘Bhajji’ got him of just the second ball of the innings, magnificently caught by the Master at first slip. From here on, though there were big names to come DC was always going to play catch up. MI, backed by the ‘extremely loud’ capacity crowd, was not going to let it slip from here.
Herschelle Gibbs gave the charges some chance by scoring a quick 27 (16 balls), with two hits over the rope. Symonds, who looked under pressure, was all at sea and managed only a run. Rohit Sharma was the only batsman who hung in there and tried to stretch the match till the end scoring 45 off 28 balls with a few effortless shots. Once he was cleaned up by a Zaheer Khan Yorker, it was all over for the Deccan Chargers. They were scuttled out for 131. Man of the Match Harbhajan, Spearhead Zaheer and ‘Slinga’ Malinga got three wickets each as Mumbai cruised to a 41 run victory.
They fielded brilliantly. Their strategies were in place. And their Captain had once again led by example. Deccan hadn’t done that badly, but Harbhajan’s innings made the difference. Mumbai Indians is on a role at the moment and it will take an outstanding performance to stop this Juggernaut sitting pretty at the top of the points table.
The evening started off on a very reverential note - the original Little Master, Sunil Gavaskar, bowing down to the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar when he came out for the toss! This was for the double hundred Tendulkar scored against South Africa.
Deccan won the toss and elected to field. MI started off slowly getting nineteen of the first three overs. But even in these three overs, there were glimpses of what was in store – Kemar Roach banging in some good balls at high speeds to unsettle Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar caressing a drive through the off-side, to a Jaskaran Singh good length delivery, with balance most batsmen can only dream of!
Dhawan fell soon after and MI sent in Dwayne Bravo who did not waste any time before he got going. In his cameo of 23 (16 balls), he hit a huge six and three stylish boundaries.
While Tendulkar at one end was playing as he always does, scoring runs at ease, the rest seemed to be in a hurry to catch the Virar Fast. Instead of playing around their in-form Captain, Saurabh Tiwary along with Ambati Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish and Keiron Pollard threw away their wickets cheaply trying to go for too many too early. During this phase of hara-kiri, Mumbai lost five wickets scoring only 37 runs in eight overs leaving Mumbai reeling at 100/6 at the end of fifteen overs.
Tendulkar, realising the hole MI was getting itself into, had already started playing calculated shots and with some deft touches and exquisite boundaries brought up his third consecutive half-century, and fourth in five innings. He fell for 55 which came of 43 deliveries and included nine shots to the fence!
MI was 110 after 17 overs. Harbhajan Singh had just come in the centre two balls ago. Whack! Bang! Boom! “Bhajji” went berserk and smashed every bowler he faced, whether it was his ‘old friend’ Andrew Symonds, speedster Roach, Jaskaran Singh or Rohit Sharma. It was as if there was storm and the Chargers were blown apart. Within the span of three overs, which included two massive sixes and eight fours, the momentum had shifted. The body language said everything as Harbhajan was all charged up, lifting the Mumbai spirits, after his 49 not out of just 18 deliveries. DC was set a target of 173.
Two years back when these two faced each other at this very ground, Adam Gilchrist tore the Mumbai bowling apart, scoring a breath-taking hundred of forty odd balls. One could not help but rewind and wonder if he would get off to another flyer.
Tendulkar opened with Harbhajan Singh and all the speculation regarding Gilchrist taking the game away was laid to rest when ‘Bhajji’ got him of just the second ball of the innings, magnificently caught by the Master at first slip. From here on, though there were big names to come DC was always going to play catch up. MI, backed by the ‘extremely loud’ capacity crowd, was not going to let it slip from here.
Herschelle Gibbs gave the charges some chance by scoring a quick 27 (16 balls), with two hits over the rope. Symonds, who looked under pressure, was all at sea and managed only a run. Rohit Sharma was the only batsman who hung in there and tried to stretch the match till the end scoring 45 off 28 balls with a few effortless shots. Once he was cleaned up by a Zaheer Khan Yorker, it was all over for the Deccan Chargers. They were scuttled out for 131. Man of the Match Harbhajan, Spearhead Zaheer and ‘Slinga’ Malinga got three wickets each as Mumbai cruised to a 41 run victory.
They fielded brilliantly. Their strategies were in place. And their Captain had once again led by example. Deccan hadn’t done that badly, but Harbhajan’s innings made the difference. Mumbai Indians is on a role at the moment and it will take an outstanding performance to stop this Juggernaut sitting pretty at the top of the points table.
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