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Lions prevail in a close encounter
by CricketArchive Staff Reporter


Ground:New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Scorecard:Lions v Mumbai Indians
Player:SR Tendulkar, JD Vandiar, ND McKenzie
Event:Champions League 2010/11

DateLine: 10th September 2010

 

 

Tendulkar won the toss and elected to field first. The Mumbai Indians' bowlers failed to locate the right line and length and the hosts' batsmen capitalised on the poor offerings. A bowling attack boasting of Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga looked undercooked as the the hosts' batsmen led by the young Vandiar dispatched the bowlers to various areas of the field. For the first few overs runs came through some nervous slashes and chips and the first wicket fell due to some misunderstanding while running between the wicket. Once Vandiar got to know the pitch and the opposition bowlers he launched into a brutal hitting session.

 

Vandiar was well supported by a classy McKenzie who showed that T20 batting is not about brutal long handle hitting. McKenzie at first relied on nudges to keep the scorecard moving. Once Vandiar left the scene McKenzie took charge as he showed the other aspect of his batting - some violent hitting. McKenzie made a 30 ball 56 as Lions scored 186 for the loss of 5 wickets in their 20 overs.

 

Mumbai in reply needed a strong start at the top of the order and the opening duo of Tendulkar and Dhawan provided just that. The opening pair looked at ease from ball number one as runs came at good pace. Tendulkar soon outscored his younger partner as he showed that text-book shots also has a place in T20 format. Dhawan played and missed on several occasions and Tendulkar took the lead. The veteran soon outscored his younger partner as he illuminated the New Wanderers Stadium with some exquisite shots.

 

Dhawan fell as he played an unwanted reverse-sweep and Rayudu fell to an ill-judged run-out. Tendulkar kept motoring along and soon reached a classy half-century. Tendulkar was cleaned up by a slower delivery from Burger and that brought in big-hitting Pollard to the crease. After being kept quiet for a some time Pollard played some of the most brutal shots of the encounter. Shane Burger was the victim as Pollard launched into the bowler by creaming a couple of sixes and a boundary in a single over. But the bowler had the last laugh as he cleaned up Pollard with an accurate yorker and the Lions roared back into the game.

 

The hopes of Mumbai Indians rested on Duminy but the talented southpaw failed to find the boundaries at the right intervals. Duminy was dismissed in the dying moments of the game and Lions began to take a solid grasp of the match. Satish kept the visitors' hopes high with a superb six over covers But in the end Mumbai Indians fell short by 9 runs.

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