Two teams who were desperate to win met at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune and it was the visiting side which emerged as winners and got those two very crucial points in their kitty. It was a low scoring match as no batsmen was able to get the grab of the pitch and were found wanting.
Mumbai Indians started the innings cautiously and got to the 50 run mark without losing any wickets in the eighth over. They got a solid base and it was looking that they will post a total of around 140, but some bad stroke play and some bizarre changes in the batting line-up saw the visitors ending their innings at 120.
Pune would have been very happy at the half-way stage and would have been confident of beating their more fancied neighbors. But, a bad start and some negative batting saw them missing out by one run at the end.
Let’s have a look at some of the hits and flops from both teams.
Pune Warriors:
Hits:
Bowlers: All the bowlers bowled beautifully and never let the opposition batsman break free. Dinda who was making a comeback to the side bowled with pace and aggression and looked in good rhythm. Other three fast bowlers, Wayne Parnell, Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled with tremendous accuracy and picked wickets at regular intervals. Together they gave only 46 runs in the 11 overs that they bowled at an economy rate of just over 4. It was their efforts that kept Mumbai at such a low score.
Mithun Manhas: Manhas is a very experienced batsman and has played a number of important innings for Delhi in the domestic circuit. But, this time he was playing in a format that is not very suited to his style of batting, but he was the best batsmen on display from both the sides. He scored a fluent 42 and it was his efforts that took Pune so close to the Mumbai total.
Flops:
Sourav Ganguly: His strike rate has been pathetic in this season and he once again looked out of sorts. He consumed 24 deliveries for his 16 and he was the main reason why the required run-rate went up around 9. Ganguly struggled to rotate the strike and played far too many dot deliveries for Pune’s liking.
Top Order: The solid looking top order of Pune failed collectively. Uthappa played across the line and got out the individual score of 18. Ryder has been very successful this season but he failed in this match. Michael Clarke succumbed to a bad decision from the umpire and that was a decisive blow for the Pune team.
Mumbai Indians:
Hits:
Harbhajan Singh: The Mumbai Indians captain has been struggling to get wickets in the tournament, but he changed all that with his performance against Pune Warriors. Harbhajan got the crucial wickets of Jesse Ryder and Michael Clarke and gave only 18 runs in his four overs.
Lasith Malinga: The deadly Sri Lankan fast bowler once again showed why he is considered to be the best bowler in this format. He gave only 25 runs and took two wickets. It was his penultimate over that set the match for Mumbai Indians.
Flops:
Batting: Mumbai Indians already have two low scores in this season and they had their third low score against Pune. They started off far too cautiously and lost their way in the middle overs. Sachin Tendulkar scored a run a ball 30 but it was not good enough to post a descent total. MI batsmen will have to get their acts together because their bowlers can’t win them every match.
By Gaurav Jha
Indian Sports News
