Mumbai survive Yusuf’s Halla

Undoubtedly Yusuf Pathan is the hero of MI Vs RR match and this game will be remembered for Yusuf’s Heroic. Yes, he is in good nick but a ton in 37 balls with 9 fours and 8 sixes is incredible. Yusuf’s Halla (attack) is the apt label; one can’t express it beyond that. A man to watch out in this year’s IPL and truly he is the IPL boy.

Earlier in the day, Warne called heads and it turned out to be tails, Warne’s magic even failed to spin a coin in his favour when Sachin was there in the middle. And without hesitation Sachin opted to bat first on a batting beauty. As expected this match turned out to be high scoring one.

From the very first over it was clear that pitch is not going to help any bowlers. The dashing opening pair of Jaysurya and Sachin started off well. Mumbaikar enjoyed the Jaysurya’s flamboyant hitting along with GOD’s elegant stroke play in their little cameo of 23 and 17 runs respectively. But the Rajasthan Royal’s bowlers bounced back taking three quick wickets.

Then it was up to lesser Known and untested MI middle order to take it from 70-3 in 6.3 overs. Tare was impressive but couldn’t stay long. Raydu and Tiwari brilliantly dealt with RR attack. They were good in their shot selections, and were striking the ball confidently. And more importantly they capitalized on the start given by openers and rebuilt MI inning. That helped MI to set a target of 213 runs. A 100 run partnership between Raydu and Tiwari was the high point of MI inning.

In last two IPL seasons, middle order was a concern for MI, but after watching Tare, Tiwary and Raydu I feel MI has done their homework very well. RR bowling looked very ordinary. Not a single RR bowler was in good rhythm. Even after getting Sachin and Sanath out early, they were not able to restrict inexperienced MI middle order. The much hyped pacer Shaun Tait was wayward to say the least.

MI bowlers bowled first 9 over very well. After that it was Yusuf’s show. It would be unfair to Yusuf if I blame MI bowlers. After scoring 15 runs in 14 balls, Yusuf was on fire. Series 6,6,6,6,4,4,6,4,4,4,4 belongs to Yusuf. Harbhajan’s absence hurt MI especially when Yusuf was hitting all the bowlers over the ropes. Yusuf’s dazzling innings will definitely serve as catalyst to boost confidence of RR and their fans. But fortunately he couldn’t take them home thanks to brilliant run out by Satish. A brilliant death bowling by Zaheer and Malinga did not allow RR batsmen to score even 19 runs in last 12 balls and MI won by just 4 runs. MI held their nerve and bettered their performance at crucial moments.

I liked the MI’s team composition and the strategy. MI gave chance to new comers and played with only 3 foreign players. Such experiments won’t hurt team badly in first half of tournament even if they cost 1 or 2 matches. It’s always better to test your weapons before the war.

This time MI is very balanced team. We got the best openers, the middle order looks better with likes of Raydu, Tiwari, Tare, Nayar, Sathish, Duminey in our ranks. Allrounders like Polard, Machlren, Bravo will add extra strength. The bowling attack is the best among all the IPL teams with Zahir, Harbhajan and Malinga in supreme form. So MI is team to watch out in this year’s IPL. I hope Harbhajan will be fit before next match. MI will play their next match against Delhi Daredevils in Delhi on 17^th March.till then keep enjoying IPL action!!!

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