The batsman dominated the bowler in the royal contest between two masters. A packed audience at the Sawai Man Singh stadium watched Rajasthan Royals suffer its first home loss in nine matches. They still relished it because the man who beat their team was their hero too. Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 89 carried Mumbai Indians to a convincing 37–run win and earned the side a place in the semifinals.
Rajasthan Royals has complicated its course and must win its remaining two matches. Clinical batting A target of 175 was possible only due to Tendulkar's clinical batting after Rajasthan elected to field. He made the most of a ‘life', paced his knock tactically and produced a match-winning effort as only he can.
The rest paled into oblivion and Shane Warne was a clear loser and his team a huge let down. The evening was lit up by the two masters as they renewed their rivalry and rekindled memories from their youthful days. Warne was in control until Tendulkar confronted him with his classy footwork and innovation at the crease.
Warne is a champion at bowling to his field but thrice in an over Tendulkar embarrassed him with his deft placements. Two inside-out strokes, as Tendulkar stepped out imperiously and a rasping cut took one's breath away.
Classy
There was class written when the Indian whipped him off his pads once and then tapped him for a comfortable brace in front of the fielder at mid-on.
There was nothing crass about Tendulkar's batting and Warne too was full of guile, spinning the ball and tossing it too for variety.
Tendulkar's fifth half century of the tournament was crafted in expected style and it was as valuable as any. The first six of the match came only in the 18th over from a typical Kieron Pollard blast off Dole, who later top-scored for the Royals.
And then Tendulkar added two more off Trivedi in the last over. Dole had messed up a top edge from Tendulkar off Siddharth Trivedi when the batsman was on 45. It cost Rajasthan dearly indeed. The master was the rightful ‘man-of-the-match'.
The scores: Mumbai Indians: S. Jayasuriya c Jhunjhunwala b Watson 1 ( 2b), S. Tendulkar (not out) 89 ( 59b, 10x4, 2x6), A. Rayudu c Ojha b Watson 0 ( 3b), S. Tiwary c Dole b Watson 15 ( 9b, 3x4), J.P. Duminy c Lumb b Trivedi 31 ( 32b, 4x4), K. Pollard b Dole 25 ( 13b, 1x4, 1x6), R. Satish (not out) 1 ( 1b); Extras (lb-4, w-8): 12, Total (for five wickets in 20 overs): 174.
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-12, 3-30, 4-93, 5-143.
Rajasthan Royals bowling: Yusuf 4-0-24-0, Watson 4-0-37-3, Dole 4-0-34-1, Jhunjhunwala 1-0-6-0, Warne 4-0-34-0, Trivedi 4-0-35-1.
Rajasthan Royals: M. Lumb c Duminy b Kulkarni 8 ( 6b, 2x4), N. Ojha c Tendulkar b Zaheer 0 ( 5b), F. Fazal (run out) 10 ( 15b, 1x4), S. Watson (run out) 1 ( 2b), A. Jhunjhunwala (run out) 22 ( 22b, 1x6), A. Voges c Rayudu b Zaheer 28 ( 27b, 2x4), Yusuf c Harbhajan b Pollard 10 ( 8b, 1x4), A. Raut (not out) 20 ( 17b, 2x6), A. Dole c (sub) S. Dhawan b Harbhajan 30 ( 18b, 2x4, 1x6), Extras (lb-1, w-7): 8, Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs): 137.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-11, 4-34, 5-62, 6-85, 7-87, 8-137.
Mumbai Indians bowling: Zaheer 4-1-17-2, Kulkarni 4-0-40-1, Malinga 4-0-23-0, Harbhajan 4-0-21-1, Jayasuriya 2-0-16-0, Pollard 2-0-19-1 .
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