Sachin-Sanath act carries Mumbai to huge win by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians
Player:	AM Nayar, SL Malinga, ST Jayasuriya, SR Tendulkar
Event:	Indian Premier League 2009

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DateLine: 27th April 2009

 

A margin of 92 runs is something out of a Test match, and to garner that kind of a win in a Twenty20 game would be something of an annihilation, which the Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders match ended up with.

 

Kolkata never had a chance chasing Mumbai’s 187/6, created on the basis of the 127-runs opening stand between Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar, were skittled out for 95 in 15.2 overs.

 

Their reply never got off the ground, and once Brendon McCullum had departed.

 

The New Zealand wicketkeeper, who has been given the captaincy of the side after much drama, has struggled with the three roles of captain, stumper and opener, and that is showing not only in his batting but also in team selection and other aspects.

 

Thereafter, once Chris Gayle also departed, the target which was way too big to begin with, became insurmountable, well before the innings ended.

 

Kolkata’s body language said it al, and at no stage did the middle-order look like even getting close to the target. Sourav Ganguly pottered around for a while, but he and Brad Hodge, the last hope for Kolkata, were too far behind the asking rate to really make the chase realistic.

 

While the Kolkata boys were struggling, Mumbai was going on merrily. Sri Lankan fast Lasith Malinga got them off to a fine start and then polished off the tail. Abhishek Nayar was the man who broke the back of the batting, with three quick wickets.

 

The Mumbai innings, at least the first half, was a dream, or a nightmare, depending on which side one was supporting.

 

Tendulkar and Jayasuriya made a mockery of the Kolkata bowling, which at the best of times is not the best in the IPL. They have struggled against most sides, especially since Ishant Sharma has not been able to make the early inroads, like some other opening bowlers have. On top of that, the medium-pace battery is not too impressive otherwise.

 

This became even worse for McCullum and party when Ajantha Mendis, supposedly the trump card in the attack, was attacked right from the beginning by the two veterans. Once that happened, things really became really trying for the Kolkata side.

 

But the way the two played, even the best of attacks would have struggled.

 

It’s never easy bowling to a right-left combine, and when the combine has names like Tendulkar and Jayasuriya, it can become your worst nightmare. The 50 partnership went in a flash and the century stand was just a matter of time. The two were going at such a rate that one was left wondering which would get to a century first.

 

Four sixes apiece by the openers were highlight of their 127-run stand, coming off 12.2 overs before Kolkata found an unlikely messiah in Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The mid-innings break has invariably done one thing. It has dented the momentum of the batting side. Almost all the matches have seen the batting side lose steam during the break and that was what happened this time around too.

 

Tendulkar looked all set for a Twenty20 century before shuffling too far across to Shukla to be trapped in front. Harbhajan Singh came in to keep the momentum going and did a great job for the time that he was in the middle, but once he went and Jayasuriya also fell to Shukla, Mumbai seemed to lose some of the steam they had gathered.

 

Shukla ultimately emerged as the bowling hero for Kolkata, claiming 3/25 off four overs even as the other bowlers suffered.

 

However, 187 was definitely a good target, given that chasing under lights is never easy, not least at St George’s Park. Kolkata had their task cut out from the beginning.