Tweet
Engulfed in a cloud of smoke, a generously sprayed insect repellent delayed the start of the match. Similarly, the game was concluded under the hazy lights, dulled by the Jaipur evening smog. In between, though, the crowd at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium got the clearest vision of brilliance at 24 frames per second: a prolonged Sachin Tendulkar show in the middle.
Captaining the Mumbai Indians into the semi-finals for the first time in three seasons - they are also the first team to do so in this edition with 16 points in 11 games - after playing arguably his best knock in this format, it would be fair to say that Tendulkar almost single-handedly crushed the Rajashtan Royals by 37 runs on Sunday. Tendulkar's unbeaten 89 was also his best score in the IPL, and in the process surpassed Jacques Kallis to become the highest run-getter - 512 from 11 innings - in the tournament so far.
Playing the completely out-of-form Sanath Jayasuriya in place of Shikhar Dhawan - 169 runs from seven matches - in the starting XI was only decision that Sachin Tendulkar faltered with the entire evening.
Dismissed for just one run off Shane Watson, the Sri Lankan's wicket sent tremors through the Mumbai's top-order. The promotion to No.3 didn't work for Ambati Rayudu, caught behind two balls later for nought while trying to hook a scorching bouncer. New man Saurabh Tiwary cracked successive boundaries to get off the mark. But Shane Watson's short-pitched snorter was successful once again, as Tiwary walked back after holing out at fine-leg with the scoreboard reading 30-3. But that was as far as the home side were going to dominate. Tendulkar and JP Duminy steadied the ship from there on, as Mumbai took the score to 73/3 by the half-way mark.
Although the much anticipated battle of the legends - Tendulkar vs Warne - didn't live up to its hype, it sure did have its moments in the 12th over. The leg-spinner had Tendulkar on a leash initially, but the batsman then showed glimpses of what Warne's alleged nightmares were made off.
He danced down the track - and rolled back the years to 1998 - and scooped it over covers on two successive deliveries for the same result - a savage thwack into the advertisement hoardings. Rocking onto his backfoot for the final ball of the over, Tendulkar caressed Warne's shorter one past the backward point fence. For the shortest format of the game though, it was an even contest, with Tendulkar scoring 23 off the 15 Warne deliveries.
Dropped on 46 by Dole at fine-leg off a Siddharth Trivedi bouncer, Tendulkar did what he does best when given a life: break a few records and bruise a few egos. He brought up his fifth fifty of the tournament and his 1000th IPL run.
The stage was set for a heavyweight clash, with Yusuf Pathan raring to ruin the Tendulkar show, but three run-outs (Shane Watson, Faiz Fazal and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala) left the home side reeling and they could manage 137/8 in 20 overs.
Powered by WizardRSS | Free Autoblog Plugin
