MI 172/4 20 overs DC 135/8 20 overs
Mumbai
Indians gave their team captain, Sachin Tendulkar, the perfect birthday
gift as they trounced the Deccan Chargers in a crucial match of the
Indian Premier League (IPL) played at the least favourite venue for the
hosts, Uppal Stadium.
In four years the Chargers have hardly ever won at the venue and once
again a capacity crowd was left disappointed due to a poor performance
from the hosts, who allowed the Indians to post a big total of 172
before succumbing to a meagre 135 run total themselves.
The Indians opted to bat first and the opening pair of Tendulkar and Davy Jacobs
got the team off to a flying start as they scored 47 runs in 5.1 overs
before Jacobs fell for a well made 32 that came off a mere 20 balls.
Tendulkar tried to up the tempo after
his demise. However, the birthday boy fell to left arm spinner, Pragyan
Ojha, after scoring 28 runs off 24 balls.
Ambati Rayudu
and Kieron Pollard were soon sent back as the Indians wobbled at 70/4,
the Chargers were revved up and looked set to choke the visitors for
runs. The morale didn’t last for long and things changed at this stage
as the Indians made an astonishing
comeback through an unbeaten 102 run stand between Rohit Sharma and
Andrew Symonds.
The two big-hitters laid into the hosts smashing them to all parts of
the ground at the end of the innings, Sharma scored a dazzling 56 off
34 balls while Symonds smashed 44 off 33 balls.
The hosts were hit hard by the unexpected assault at the end of the
Mumbai innings and captain Kumar Sangakkara tried to revive their hopes
after an early loss of a wicket. However he failed to make most of his
own start and perished for 34 runs as the rest
of the batting line-up also failed to inspire much with Amit Mishra and
Daniel Christian the only two batsmen to cross the 20 runs mark late in the order.
The listless batting performance saw the hosts end 37 runs short of
the target. For the Indians, Lasith Malinga the man with the most potent
yorker in modern cricket snared three wickets for a mere nine runs of
four fantastic overs.
He was named man of the match as the Indians celebrated another important win and solidified their position in the league.
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