Mumbai
Indians
proved they are the best team in the
tournament and reclaimed their
position at the summit of the table
by battering Pune Warriors India at the DY Patil
Stadium, whose freefall continued
with a seventh successive loss that
kept them firmly at the bottom.
Mumbai gave another
demonstration of the depth of their
batting talent, as two men who have
who have had little batting time this
season, T Suman and Kieron Pollard,
fired them to a competitive total
after Pune's spinners had initially
shackled them.
Yuvraj Singh, who has under-bowled
himself in the IPL, removed the rocks
at the top of the Mumbai batting,
Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati
Rayudu, and legspinner Rahul
Sharma prised out two important
wickets with the most economical
spell of the season (4-0-7-2) to leave
Mumbai at an insufficient 114 for 5
after 15 overs. Suman and Pollard,
however, got stuck into the erratic
Alfonso Thomas to lift Mumbai to a
competitive score.
Mumbai had made a typically solid
beginning, with Tendulkar dealing in
easy-on-the-eye boundaries, and
Rayudu sending a couple of Jerome
Taylor short balls for fours. Robin
Uthappa had thrown himself smartly
to his left to pouch an Aiden Blizzard
edge, but he fluffed a chance to
remove the more dangerous opener,
Tendulkar, when he missed the
stumps from square leg, with the
batsman yards out.
Mumbai briskly moved to 56 for 1
after seven overs, before Rahul and
Yuvraj pulled them back. Rahul's
combination of quick legbreaks and
topspinners proved hard to get
away, before Yuvraj made the big
breakthrough in the ninth over,
getting Tendulkar to hole out to
short extra cover. Yuvraj and Rahul
choked the innings in a four-over
passage of play that yielded only 13
runs. That forced Rayudu to attempt
the big hit, but he holed out to long-
off.
Suman was surprisingly promoted
ahead of Andrew Symonds and
Pollard for his first proper hit this
season, and he provided Mumbai the
momentum they desperately
needed. In an innings where
everyone else had struggled to score
at a run-a-ball till then, Suman came
out blazing, racing to 19 off seven
with a couple of stylish sixes.
Rahul returned and removed the
struggling Rohit Sharma and Suman
in two overs, but in between those
strikes Suman showed off his timing
with a four and a six to long-off off
Thomas. Pollard then provided the
final flourish, unleashing his brand of
brutal straight-hitting. Thomas bore
the brunt as he was whipped for 27
in the penultimate over, and
Pollard's quickfire 30 made sure
Pune's batsmen had a challenge on
their hands.
Pune's reply got off to a horror start
as Jesse Ryder sliced the first ball to
backward point. Graeme Smith has
not been in the best touch with the
bat for quite a while now, and that
spell continued today. Manish
Pandey's timing was completely
awry, and the decision to promote
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala meant the
big guns, Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa,
were pushed too low in the order.
The most expensive over in the first
ten overs of the chase fetched only
nine runs, and the asking-rate
soared past 11 by the halfway stage.
Lasith Malinga then harried Yuvraj
with a series of bouncers, the last of
which was awkwardly popped
towards third man where Munaf
Patel took a tumbling catch. It was
the knockout blow, and Yuvraj was
left on the floor.
The big news ahead of the match
was that Pune had bought former
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. Even
if that does prompt a dramatic
turnaround, it might be too late with
Pune, as even winning all their
remaining matches may not be
enough to make the Play-off matches.
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