Master Takes Mumbai to Semis

Yesterday, again we witnessed Master’s elegant stroke play under pressure. A fabulous inning of 89 runs in 59 balls by Sachin, helped Mumbai to put 174 runs on board, more importantly the way he paced his inning was awesome. With cool head he curbed his shots when wickets were tumbling at other end and built a steady partnership with JP Duminy. He conserved his energy till the end and finally when the time came he accelerated the score in last 3 overs single handedly. One can get an answer why Sachin is called as Master by watching this inning.

Warne asked Sachin to bat first after winning 3rd toss in 12 games. I don’t know whether newly elected Sanath will make it to Sri Lanka’s Cabinet or not, but he was successful in gaining a place in Mumbai’s playing XI. Sanath and Sachin opened the inning and put 12 runs on board for first wicket. Sanath got out in 2^nd over, defending Watson’s full length delivery.In same over Watson gave Rajasthan a second break through by removing Raydu.

Tiwari and Sachin scored 18 runs together before Tiwari was out. Both Raydu and Tiwari got trapped in Rajasthan’s game plan, Watson provoked both and the young blood failed to keep themselves calm and got out attempting aggressive shots. In my opinion Duminy should come in between Raydu and Tiwari in batting order. It will provide much needed experience hand in Mumbai’s middle order.

Mumbai was 30-3 in 4^th over, when Duminy came out to bat. Sachin and Duminy put a stand of 63 runs in 8.3 overs. This partnership was the most crucial in yesterday’s win. Sachin won the battle against Warne by hitting him for 3 fours in an over. Duminy got out trying to accelerate the score. Then came Pollard, it was a good chance for this power hitter to answer his critics, and he did it to some extent. He scored 25 runs in 60 runs stand with Sachin.

Sachin's Blistering Knock of 89

Man-of-the-Match Sachin with Orange Cap

Mumbai was fortunate enough, as Sachin was dropped by Dole on 45 and that cost them the match. After Pollard got out in 18^th over, it was time for some fireworks from GOD’s bat. Sachin changed Watson’s bowling figures from economical to expensive one. He hit two massive shots in last over bowled by Trivedi. By getting to his highest score in IPL, he also grabbed Orange cap from Kalis, it was great to see him wearing the orange cap.

Score of 174 runs was defendable but Rajasthan is a dark horse and they were unbeatable on their home turf, so Mumbai would never took them granted. Zaheer Khan started well by conceding just a single run in his first over and this really set a match for Mumbai bowlers. Dhawal playing his first game of the season was expensive in his first over, but he removed Lumb. Thanks to JP for his brilliant catch at point.

Then Sachin caught Ojha in the slip in Zaheer’s 2^nd over and in same over Watson got run out. It was major blow for Rajasthan and they failed to recover from this blow. Rjasthan has 19 run outs in their 12 games. Mumbai bowlers were not giving any room to Rajasthan batters to score freely, and the required run rate started climbing up rapidly.

Jhunjunwala and Voges put up a resistance for some time, but it was not enough. Yusuf Pathan too failed to produce even a little cameo which would have helped them to get at least close to the target. Raut and Dole entertained crowd by hitting some big shots. Finally Rajasthan was able to score only 137 runs in their 20 overs and MI won by 37 runs.

Sachin was the Man of the match and Mumbai won yet another match after Sachin’s fifty. Mumbai became the first team to qualify for semis and continued to be at the top of the table. There are 3 more games left for Mumbai, and this will give MI a good practice before crucial semifinal tie. They might rest few key players and assess their bench strength before picking their final XI for important games.

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