Cricket Tournaments

Jonathan Vandiar

Jonathan Vandiar put on show a spectacular display as the Highveld Lions stunned the Mumbai Indians in what was the inaugural match (second edition) of the Airtel Champion League Twenty 20 competition. Vandiar’s knock of 71 included four fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate nearing 150.

Having won the toss, Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar chose to field on what looked like a green wicket with some pace and bounce in it. Being the favourites not just for this match but the tournament, all eyes were on Mumbai as they took the field with the Bullring buzzing all around them. Alviro Petersen and Jonathan Vandiar got the hosts off to a flier before the duo were involved in a controversial run out as Vandiar managed to ground his bat in seconds before Petersen did.

At that stage, it looked like Vandiar should have sacrificed his wicket. But, the lions will be thanking their starts that, that was not the case as Vandiar lit up the Bullring with scintillating shots all round the wicket. Both Cameron and Van Jaarsveld failed to provide the impetus as the two M’s, Murtaza and Malinga accounted for them. The lions most experienced campaigner and a “test match batsman” (so as to say) , Neil McKenzie walked in. The duo put on 64 for the 4th wicket and took the score to 145 before Vandiar slapped one of malinga straight to extra cover.

Nevertheless, there was no stopping McKenzie who played his trademark pulls, flicks and drives en route his 56. The hosts lost a flurry of wickets in the end but McKenzie’s innings kept the Lions together as they ended up with a mammoth total of 186. Zaheer Khan’s last over cost a plenty as the former looked rusty following his shoulder injury and was carted all over the park by McKenzie and company.

The bowling for the Mumbai Indian’s looked lacklustre to say the least. Murtaza bowled well in patches while Malinga was the stand out. Zaheer looked completely out of rhythm.

Sachin Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan came in with a huge task ahead of them. The Indians started of in brilliant fashion albeit lucky as the opening duo put on 83 before phangiso accounted for Dhawan. Having survived an early LBW shout Sachin Tendulkar looked classy as ever en route his innings of 69.

The mumbai team tried to bat around Sachin Tendulkar, but once sachin was dismissed by Burger, the doors were open for the Lions once again. Sachin fell trying to make room for himself as he missed the ball completely and was bowled. Duminy played well until a point where slogging was the only bail out. Duminy is more of a touch player and out right slogging is clearly not his forte.

Once Sachin fell, Duminy got stuck in and failed to farm the strike before he was dismissed by De Bruyn for 30. Once again Mumbai’s fate rested on how Pollard played, whether it was just a cameo or a little more than one. The latter ensuring a win. However, once again Pollard fell after a brief cameo of 19. Pollard fell to a brilliant yorker from Burger. Burger, was the game breaker as his spell in the latter half of the match helped the Lions get rid of the two batting giants of the Indians in Tendulkar and Pollard.

Although the Lions won by just 9 runs, the approach from the Mumbai Indians arguably was wrong. Keeping wickets in hand is not a bad thing but in this format one senses it tend to provide a false sense of security. Huge win for the warriors, while the Mumbai Indians have a lot to look at beginning from the selection of their 11. If Ryan McLaren had to bowl just one over then why not have Bravo instead of him, the latter being more of a batting all rounder. Lot of things for the unit to look at, the usage of JP Duminy and the bowling combination.

The lions would hope to keep the momentum when they play the South Australians in a day’s time. Mumbai would like to make use of the short break that they have so as to come up with a better performance.

Sachin Tendulkar

With the champions league all set to kick off in less than 2 hours, what really do the player’s stand to hold from this?

If you look at it from the outset, their’s nothing to lose as far as the player’s are concerned.
Be it getting to rub shoulder’s with international players, sharing the dressing room with greats like Sachin Tendulkar, exposure to brilliant conditions or the glamour, this promises to be the best opportunity that youngster’s could get to showcase their talent. We spoke about all this in the IPL 2. However, what seems to be the difference here is that the pool of international player’s surpasses that of the Indian player’s which is contrary the case with the IPL.

Let’s look at this in a bit more detail:

Getting to run shoulders with international players: Having played at a domestic the youngster’s are used to a certain way of going about things with the people they know coming from the same culture and background. However, with the ACLT20 coming in, player’s now plan more professionally, there is a certain professionalism in the way they go about their scheme of things. Getting to play their idols and learning from them is an experience that cannot be matched. In all of this it’s the experience of such a thing that matters, it’s this experience that will help bring out the best in them.

Sharing the dressing room: There’s a lot to like about this , as for any cricketer, sharing the dressing room with living legends in Sachin Tendulkar could only do them good. More than a cricketing perspective, there’s a lot more to learn, the intricacies of the game for example. How to prepare for a match, certain routines a player goes through. All of this is beyond an experience for a player.

The conditions: As far as the conditions go, no youngster could have a better experience than playing on brilliant outfield’s, fast-seaming pitches. This especially is a great exposure for Indian youngster’s who don’t seem to fancy themselves with quick bouncy wickets. Something, that certainly prepares them for the test that lies ahead in the future.

Platform: If ever you had to have a youngster establish himself on the international arena, it had to be the ACLT20 for me, even if it means surpassing the IPL. This is largely due to the fact that, the ACLT20 is not just played in one country. Also, the number of foreign nationals is considerably much more than what is to be seen in the IPL or any other domestic league for that matter. All in all, an ideal platform for young guns to knock on the doors of selectors and prove worthy of a place in their respective national side’s.

However, the question we are asking here is different.
Do the youngster’s really need all this at such a young age?

After all the Tendulkar’s, the Lara’s , the Ponting’s weren’t made of all this. In an age where gym-ing and other modes of training seem to have made fast bowler’s weaker, one fears this could do the same to the upcoming youngsters. All fast bowlers did in the past was run in and bowl and bowl their heart out. That was and remains the best form of training once could ask for. However, in this age and in the advent of Twenty 20, things seem to have changed. Another influencing factor is the huge money that these lucrative cash rich leagues offer. It is a debatable issue and it remains to be seen whether in the future generations one will be able to differ between the good and the great or whether the two terms end up to be synonymous with each other.

Only time can tell whether this would really be the case or not. As an advent follower of cricket one wishes otherwise hoping we to witness better quality cricket with time passing.

Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen has been a revelation, right throughout his five years of international cricket. He has dominated every bowling attack possible, and has left no margin for error in helping England win not just at home, but also abroad. He is an equally good player in all three formats of the game.

However, the so-called ‘law of averages’ tends to catch up with many cricketers in some points of their careers. And Pietersen has suffered from this since the last ten months or so. Even the most ardent Pietersen fan is likely to believe that he is not at his best, at the moment despite a wonderful World Twenty20 in the West Indies. This is because of one particular reason – the emergence of left-arm spinners in world cricket.

Great batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara have played so well right throughout their careers that there are no apparent weaknesses which can be spotted when they are batting. So, Pietersen cannot be in the list of greats yet, because he has this rather peculiar weakness of getting dismissed against the left-arm spinner.

Pietersen, no doubt is a fine-quality player of pace bowling when he can play any shot on both sides of the wicket. However, spin can make Pietersen look silly at times, just as how Sehwag often is tempted when spinners are bowling to him.

Pietersen emerged as one of England’s valuable players in 2005 in the one-day series in South Africa. The three hundreds which he had scored in seven matches, clearly showed how he can bat on hard, bouncy tracks. However, what many didn’t observe was that Pietersen struggled to play Nicky Boje in that series and got out to his bowling once.

So the problem remained but he was able to flourish thanks to no regular left-arm spinner in the Australian team in the 2005 Ashes. His blossoming was due to his innovation against spinners, which was risky but successful. He invented the switch-hit in 2006 off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan, when he hit a huge six at Leeds. He took on Pakistan’s slow bowlers well at home. For that matter, even in the 2007 World Cup, he played really well because of his aggressive attitude towards spin bowling.

However, captaincy was thrust on to him in 2008 and the threat of injury loomed large after playing three years of non-stop international cricket. This is when his agility also reduced to a certain extent. A lean run followed in 2009 as it was evident that the emergence of left-arm spinners had an effect on his batting.

In the tour of New Zealand and the return series in 2008, Daniel Vettori troubled Pietersen and curbed his scoring to a large extent, if not taking his wicket. Even in the IPL 2009 in South Africa, Kevin Pietersen was playing as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a match against Delhi Daredevils.

Vettori, playing for the Daredevils was bought on to bowl by captain Virender Sehwag when he was batting. Pietersen tried the switch-hit but was comprehensively bowled by Vettori. In the 2009 tour to South Africa, he returned to play for England after an Achilles injury.

In the ODIS there, unlike the last time when he burst into top-flight cricket with a brilliant performance, he failed miserably. And in Bangladesh in March 2010, the problem of left-arm spin had taken centre-stage. In the ODIS, Pietersen’s poor form had continued as Abdur Razzak, Bangladesh’s spinner picked up his wicket in 2 ODIS and the captain Shakib al Hasan picked him in the first ODI. It was a similar story in the Tests.

Shakib continued to dominate with the wicket of Pietersen, especially with the flighted delivery from around the wicket, which comes back to hit the middle stump. That ball has a lot of use as it can either get the batsman lbw or bowled or even catch out on the off-side or at short leg. And that is exactly what happened with Pietersen.

Despite having a healthy average of 40 in the Test series, Pietersen could have gone on to make more runs, if he hadn’t been dismissed by Shakib on those turning wickets in Bangladesh. And in the recent Test series against Bangladesh at home, he tried to break the shackles by playing at his aggressive best, but he didn’t get the better of Shakib once again.

This is a major worry for Strauss and co if England are aiming to be World No.1 in all three formats of the game in atleast the next 2 or 3 years. Perhaps, its time that Pietersen changes his approach towards batting altogether to become a much better player for England, who need some experience to rely on.

It is so often the case when a player is said to be extremely talented, that he can overtake even the all-time greats of the game. However, in the process to achieve that legacy, something goes wrong down the line. And it makes the player believe that he is a failure. People would think he hasn’t delivered to his potential. Consequently, it’s almost time to bid goodbye to cricket for the player or hang around courtesy the belief that your captain or the selectors have in you.

When I thought about this, the first cricketer who I remember fits into the bill, is none other than Vinod Kambli. Kambli and his best friend, Sachin Tendulkar put up the highest partnership of 664 runs in a school match in 1988 of all-time, until it was broken in 2006 in Hyderabad.

Ever since then, many believed that Kambli was far more talented than Tendulkar. The comparisons began to grow after Kambli played his first ODI for India in 1991, two years after Tendulkar made his international debut. He had an amazing, almost a Bradmansque start to his career. He hit 4 centuries in his first 7 Tests for India. He also was at par with Tendulkar in ODIS as Tendulkar didn’t establish himself in the format, like the player he is today.

However, he lost his way soon. The ‘law of averages’ caught up with him. His weakness against the short ball was noticed by many teams, who used it in great effect. He was undisciplined and inconsistent which resulted in him being kicked out of the Indian team many a times.

He ended his Test career in 1995 only and ODI career in 2000. And Tendulkar has had a glorious 20-year long career, and till today he has dominated all bowling attacks in the world and given his best for India when it matters the most. So in the light of Mumbai cricket and Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli was a huge hype at the start of his career but could never live up to the expectations of the till-date unforgiving Indian fans.

Secondly, in the Indian sub-continent, another player who I can dwell upon is Mohammad Ashraful. The Bangladeshi batsman became a household name right after his debut Test. At just a tender age of 16, against a powerful Sri Lankan attack, Ashraful defied all the odds and scored 114 runs off 212 balls, which might have lost Bangladesh the match, but it did give the country a future to live for. However, as expected, Ashraful did not live up to the hopes that he had created with that knock.

His lean patch continued for another 3-4 years until he hit back with a cracking 158 against India at Chittagong. Ashraful then had a kind of a golden run for the next six months considering that he was not even 21. He scored a memorable century against Australia in England in 2005, creating an upset as Bangladesh won by 5 wickets.

Although Bangladesh did not make it into the finals of that triseries in England, yet it was widely believed that if Ashraful was in top form, the country could win some more matches against top teams. But then again, Ashraful lost his steam as he was dropped from the side during the ICC Champions Trophy in India. And then all of a sudden, after a good 2007 World Cup, Ashraful was selected as captain of his country at the age of 22! But again, it didn’t make a huge difference as his batting suffered still and his captaincy wasn’t up to the mark.

As a result, he was even dropped as captain from the 2009 World T-20 onwards. Currently, his place in the side is under scrutiny and I believe it is due to his experience of 10 years of international cricket that captain Shakib al Hasan and coach Jamie Siddons are persisting with him. If he doesn’t return to his best, and Bangladesh find an ideal, young batting star, it could be curtains to Ashraful, who has under-performed right throughout his career.

Bangladesh is developing as a cricketing nation, but had Ashraful been able to play knowing how much is he capable of, Bangladesh could have by now atleast been in the top 8 in the rankings of ODI cricket, if not Tests.

JP Duminy is another contemporary player that I can think of. Duminy was first spotted in 2004 where he made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo. However, a strong batting line-up prevented Duminy to retain his place in the side after that series. Though, there was some hope for him.

Ashwell Prince got injured ahead of the tour of Australia in 2008. Duminy was sent in as replacement. And he took full advantage of this opportunity by scoring an important half-century, remaining unbeaten to steer South Africa to the victory post chasing a mammoth total of 414 on a fast track at Perth in the second innings. He then scored a match-winning 166 in the next Test at Melbourne.

A brilliant Test series was followed by impressive performances in the ODIS and T-20s against Australia in Australia as well as in South Africa, in the return series. This helped him earn a $950000 contract with the Mumbai Indians for a period of two years, making him one of the most expensive players in the IPL ever. However, there was nothing much to celebrate about from here on.

He didn’t live up to his value in the IPL 2 and IPL 3. He struggled in the home series against England in 2009 and in India in 2010. And currently, on the tour of West Indies, he isn’t favoured in the starting XI by captain Graeme Smith. So JP Duminy has found it tough going after an amazing tour of Australia, when he made his debut. But it is expected that he makes a good comeback and help South Africa become No.1 in all three formats of the game. Otherwise, the team is ready to give its batting reserves a crack at the international level, which could hasten the end of his career.

In the West Indies, the one player who I believe is a huge hype is Kieron Pollard. Pollard got known across the world as a dangerous all-rounder following a match-winning 51 runs of just 18 balls against New South Wales in the 2009 T-20 Champions League. This paved the way for a stint in the IPL 2010 with the Mumbai Indians, being the tournament’s most expensive player ever, if media reports are to be believed.

Pollard also signed a contract with South Australia, for the KFC Big Bash last season. However, statistics show that after the Champions League, Pollard has struggled to make it big for the West Indies side. He has scored 359 runs in 13 innings at an average of just 27.61, in one-day cricket, even though he has batted mostly either at 6 or 7 in the batting order. His condition in T-20s is worse when it comes to play for his country.

He has made 104 runs only in 10 innings. Even in the IPL, barring the last 3 games of the Mumbai Indians, Pollard certainly didn’t live up to the expectations of many as the most expensive player as his value was less whenever Mumbai won. And it was worse when they lost.

For South Australia as well, Pollard didn’t make a major contribution, but somehow they won the championship. Kieron Pollard is still sought-after due to his all-round abilities, which are crucial in the shorter formats of the game. Yet, if he doesn’t mature in time, like the other cricketers in the article, he too could face the axe by various teams which could make him face the dead end of his career.

Another sparkling knock of 89 not out by Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar helped his side recover from a jittery start and post a challenging 174 for 5, batting first against Rajasthan Royals. And, with the batsmen from the latter side hell-bent on committing hara-kiri, the Mumbai bowlers did not have to shed much sweat for a comprehensive win.

As many as three Royals’ batsmen ran themselves out, something which definitely would not have pleased the Sunday night crowd at Jaipur. The innings continued to stumble along as no partnerships were built and, eventually, Rajasthan lost by a disappointing margin of 37 runs.

The story of the match was the innings of one man versus the rest on a difficult pitch for the batsmen. And that man was, guess who, Sachin Tendulkar. After winning the toss and electing to field, Rajasthan were off to the best of starts, all thanks to Shane Watson, who bounced out two Mumbai batsmen.

Both Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary were found out as Watson gave them the chin music. Before that though, he got the all important scalp of Sanath Jayasuriya for 1. The politician from Sri Lanka, who was recalled after being made to sit out for a few games, punched one tentatively to end his short stay at the crease.

Mumbai were in all sorts of trouble at 30 for 3, when JP Duminy joined Sachin. The left-hander from South Africa gave ample support to his skipper as they went about rebuilding the innings.

While Sachin went for the big strokes, Duminy ensured that he gave his captain most of the strike. Sachin was in his elements throughout his knock, but his much-awaited tussle with opposite number Shane Warne was the highlight of the game.

Even after all these years, the Mumbai bomber showed scant respect to the legendary spinners. He charged down the track and hit Warne inside out more than once. And when Warne pitched one short, he had the answer ready with his cut.

Although Duminy left Sachin with the score on 93, Sachin continued to blaze away. He slammed Siddharth Trivedi for two mighty sixes in the last over of the innings as Mumbai ended their innings on a high.

There was nothing noteworthy in Rajasthan’s batting effort. Michael Lumb began with two crispy boundaries, but Dhawal Kulkarni had his revenge pretty soon when he had him caught by Duminy.

Naman Ojha did nothing wrong to get dismissed for a duck. He was at the receiving end of an unplayable outswinger from Zaheer Khan, which he somehow managed to nick. What followed next was bizarre, to put it lightly, as three consecutive wickets fell to run-outs.

Shane Watson was the first victim, and the most crucial one at that. Faiz Fazal had run halfway down the pitch, leaving Watson with no option but to respond to his call. Fazal, himself, was the next victim, not knowing where to go. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, who batted well for his 22 until then, was beaten by a strong throw from Tiwary.

By the time Yusuf Pathan came into bat, the score read a miserable 62 for 5. Rajasthan needed well over 100 runs at better than 12 runs per over. On his day, it would have been a cakewalk for Pathan. But, this was Sachin’s day.

And so, he fell without contributing much as the script got murkier for Rajasthan. Aditya Dole and Abhishek Raut struck some lusty blows towards the end. All that did though was reduce the victory margin.

In the battle of the best versus the worst in the IPL so far, the latter surprisingly came on top, thanks to a disciplined bowling effort and a competent performance with bat.

Kings XI Punjab were playing their last match at their home ground in Mohali and were determined to give the crowd something to cheer about at last. Piyush Chawla and Irfan Pathan combined to pick three wickets each while the Sri Lankan duo of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara prospered with the willow to guide Punjab to only their third victory in the tournament.

On their part, Mumbai Indians put in a tough fight with the ball, but their batsmen had left them with a little too much to do.

While there were a number of significant contributions from Punjab’s side, none was more vital than the one by leggie Chawla. Mumbai had recovered from the early loss of Shikhar Dhawan, cleaned up by Pathan, and were beginning to from gain the ascendancy courtesy a flurry from boundaries from Ambati Rayudu. This is where Chawla stepped in and turned the game… literally.

He began by castling the ominous looking Rayudu for 33 (off only 18 balls) with a wrong that the batsman clearly failed to pick. But, what was to follow was even more impressive and shattering for the batting side. Saurabh Tiwary, one of the finds of the season for Mumbai, was forced to drag his feet out of the crease by Chawla, only to be cleverly stumped.

Chawla had picked up two big wickets in his three overs, and could have easily been taken off. However, here is where Sangakkara played his masterstroke. Noticing that Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t at his fluent best, he threw the ball to Chawla for his last over.

History too has proved that the leg-spinner has had some amount of success against the legend. The combined effect of both these factors was enough to see the back of him. Sachin went for a blind swish on the on-side and had his stumps shattered for an unimpressive 25. From 52 for 1, Mumbai had collapsed to 70 for 4 in a matter of minutes.

It was not all over for Mumbai though. They still had hope from the likes of Kieron Pollard and JP Duminy while the fact the Punjab hadn’t exactly been finishing off the job appropriately would have been at the back of their minds. This was a different outfit though, determined to deliver the killer blows.

And so, Pathan returned to claim R. Sathish and Pollard, the latter again disappointing, perishing after a couple of good hits. Duminy held fort for Mumbai with his 35, the flick six off Brett Lee being his best stroke. But, Love Abhilash’s wonderful last over in which he picked up two wickets saw Punjab go into the break carrying the momentum.

When they returned, Jayawardene caressed the ball to all parts of the boundary and, in no time, Punjab were off like the kings. With Adrian Barath and Sangakkara also contributing, the home side won by an easy 6-wicket margin despite some disciplined bowling from Mumbai, who lost their second consecutive game. It is too early for Sachin’s men to worry, but another hiccup and one would begin to wonder whether they peaked a little early.

The inability of Sachin Tendulkar to continue his innings after the first strategic break, owing to poor health conditions, dented Mumbai Indians so badly that they collapsed embarrassingly in their chase of 166 against the Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk.

Eventually, they fell way short of the target and lost by a disappointing 24-run margin. But, the game turned when Ambati Rayudu replaced Sachin at the beginning of the 10th over. Mumbai crumbed from 62 for 1 to 89 for 7 in no time. And even though Sachin returned to bat after that, the game was already out of Mumbai’s grasp. The heartbroken skipper himself fell for a valiant 45.

While MS Dhoni’s men should be credited for their superlative comeback, it has to be said that Mumbai kicked themselves in the foot. Some of the shots they played were completely inexplicable, and that is to say the least. Rayudu began ‘mission catastrophe’ when he blindly charged down the pitch to Suresh Raina and was stumped by yards by Dhoni.

What was to follow wasn’t any better. Dwayne Bravo tried to breakfree against Thilan Thushara before getting his eye in and had to return disappointed, while Saurabh Tiwary threw his hand away after eating up 18 balls for 14.

All this was happening whilst Chennai bowlers were struggling to even grip the ball properly. There was dew on the ground right from the start of the game and, as expected, it got much worse in the second half.

As such, Mumbai had everything going for them – they weren’t chasing a big score and, under the conditions, the ball wasn’t going to do much.All Mumbai had to do was to bat sensibly to achieve the target. Instead, they seemed hell-bent on committing hara-kiri.

After the loss of wickets in a heap, here was one great opportunity for big-hitting Kieron Pollard and R. Sathish to stand up and be counted. They also preferred to join the mess though. One has to acclaim that Pollard’s cheap dismissal was the product for an unbelievable catch by Murali Vijay, the fielder was unsighted by the man in front of him, yet managed to hang on to a skier.

But, Sathish’s silly run-out embodied Mumbai’s batting effort – lacklustre, without Sachin’s guidance. Harbhajan Singh late blast off 33 from 22 balls was just a reiteration of the fact that Mumbai had done themselves in.

There was no inkling of the disaster to follow when Mumbai were in the field. It was a near perfect bowling performance. Harbhajan, opening the bowling, got the better of in-form Vijay, with a smart, quickish delivery. Chennai’s suffered majorly because all their batsmen got starts, but none went on to convert them.

Suresh Raina briefly sparked during his 23 before the short ball got him again. The bigger blow though was dealt by the unassuming medium pace of Pollard. In the space of two deliveries he consumed Dhoni (31) Matthew Hayden (35), both perishing while going for big hits as Chennai struggled to accelerate. It should have been the turning point of the game. However, Mumbai were all too keen to change that.

What was supposed to be a tough chase for Mumbai Indians at the Brabourne Stadium against Chennai Super Kings, was transformed into a rather easy victory, thanks to yet another superlative effort by skipper Sachin Tendulkar (72) and an equally important, whirlwind 56 by his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan.

Mumbai had to score 181, in reply to Chennai’s imposing 180 for 2, and got home convincingly in the penultimate over, with five wickets in tact. The opening partnership of 92 in under nine overs was extremely crucial in the chase. The quickfire efforts of Sachin and Dhawan ensured that the required run rate was always under control. And, as such, there was no pressure on the batsmen to come.

Mumbai planned their chase extremely well. It was Dhawan who went after the bowlers at the start, while Sachin ensured that he gave the youngster ample strike. Even as Albie Morkel kept things tight at one end, Dhawan went after L Balaji, Joginder Sharma and even spinner Shadab Jakati, hitting some ferocious boundaries off their bowling as well as three huge sixes.

He never looked in any sort of trouble against any of the bowlers, which was the most striking aspect of his batting. The fact that even Sachin was content to take the back seat and watch the action unfold from the non-striker’s end said a lot about the quality of his innings. As such, Dhawan could only have got himself out.

And that is exactly what happened when he tried to go after Jakati once too often. The ball ballooned high in the air, and Chennai were lucky to have their best fielder, Suresh Raina, in position to take the catch.

Dhawan’s dismissal gave Chennai hope, though only a faint one as Mumbai were halfway past the target. Still, Muttiah Muralitharan worked his charm and trapped Saurabh Tiwary plumb in the front for 2, a rare failure for the youngster during this IPL. The door was again opened slightly by Chennai when Joginder Sharma managed to dislodge Rajagopal Sathish’s stumps.

At 120 for 3 in the 14th over, Chennai sensed they had a sniff. However, this is when Sachin stepped in and decided to seal it in Mumbai’s favour. The authoritative six he hit off Murali not only reminded one of their yesteryear duels, but also showed that Sachin was determined to prove who the boss was.

With a mixture of well-calculated strokes and some elegant drives, he brought Mumbai to the brink of victory. Kieron Pollard, who hasn’t got much of a chance to prove what he is worth, showed some glimpses, striking the ball as clean as a whistle en route to his 9-ball 20. And, though both were dismissed before the target was achieved, they had done enough to take Mumbai to safety.

The win did not look such an easy proposition earlier in the day, when Chennai recovered from 38 for 2 to post 180. Suresh Raina was the chief architect of the recovery.

The talented left-hander struck the ball with ease during his magnificent, unbeaten 83 off 52 balls. He found the perfect foil in S Badrinath, who contributed 55* from 45. Thanks to them, at the halfway stage, Chennai looked favourites. But, midway through the Mumbai innings the equation had completely changed.