| Mumbai Indians drub Daredevils to move atop |
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| Thursday, 18 March 2010 09:56 |
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Sachin Tendulkar and young Saurabh Tiwary smashed blistering half-centuries as Mumbai Indians spanked Delhi Daredevils by 98 runs to record their second successive victory in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday. Mumbai Indians first rattled up their highest IPL total of 218 for seven, riding on the heroics of Tendulkar (63) and Tiwary (61) and then restricted Delhi to 120 for nine in what turned out to be a lop-sided flood-lit contest at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The near-capacity crowd at Kotla was left with little to cheer about as the home team lost wickets at regular intervals in a rather tame run chase on a pitch which seemed quite good for strokeplay. The Daredevils, badly handicapped by the injury to their skipper Gautam Gambhir who left the field in the very second over of the day, began with a flourish but could never really recover after the dismissal of the swashbuckling Virender Sehwag to suffer their first defeat in the event. Sehwag (26) and Maharoof (28) were the only two batsmen who could reach the 20s as the Mumbai Indians bowlers bowled a tidy line and length to maintain the pressure on the home team batsmen. Dwayne Bravo (2/11) and Sanath Jayasuriya (2/17) were the pick of the Mumbai bowlers who supplemented the splendid work done by their batmen. It was a clinical display by the Mumbai outfit who outplayed the hosts in all the departments of the game. Ealier, Tendulkar drove, pulled and cut the Delhi Daredevils bowlers with elan after being invited to bat. Tendulkar's knock, his fourth IPL fifty, came off just 32 balls and was studded with 11 fours. Young Tiwary took the cue from his captain and smashed an aggressive 37-ball 61, laced with four fours and three sixes to take Mumbai Indians to the highest total of IPL-3 so far. They surpassed their own earlier highest of 212 for six which they made against Rajasthan Royals in their first match on March 13 in Ahmedabad. Ambati Rayudu also contributed a 21-ball 34 with the help of a four and three sixes. Tendulkar, who was dropped on 36 by Amit Mishra, shared three substantial partnerships in quick time. First he raised a 38-run stand with his opening partner Sanath Jayasuriya and then shared a 36-run partnership from 17 balls with Aditya Tare. Together with Tiwary he rattled up a quickfire 48 from 26 balls to lay the foundation for a big score. When Tendulkar was out in the 11th over, holing out to substitute fielder Yogesh Nagar while trying to hoist Amit Mishra, his side was comfortably placed at 122 for three, more than 11 runs per over. Nagar took the field after Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir left the field in the second over of the innings, apparently due to a hamstring injury. Veteran Jayasuriya and stumper batsman Aditya Tare failed to make much impact as they were out for seven and 17 respectively. Jayasuriya perished to a fine one-handed catch by Nagar off Sri Lankan pacer Farveez Maharoof while Tare was clean bowled by Pradeep Sangwan. Tiwary then capitalised on the strong foundation laid by Tendulkar as all the Daredevils bowlers bled runs. Maharoof and Sarabjit Ladda took two wickets apiece by conceding 50 and 44 runs respectively. Amit Mishra and Pradeep Sangwan took a wicket apiece but not before leaking 46 and 41 runs respectively. |
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