Blistering Pollard shines in Mumbai win

Durban: Kieron Pollard's blistering 72 runs which contained nine sixes in all and a 46-ball-48 from Sachin Tendulkar powered Mumbai to a convincing 31-run win over Guyana.



Facing a tough target of 185 runs, the Guyanese batsmen failed to fire and were restricted to 153-6 in their full quota overs. Guyanese captain Ramnaresh Sarwan top scored with 46 runs as the rest of the batting order fell apart in the face of a huge target.

Although Mumbai won, their bowling attack came up with an average performance. Wides and no-balls were given freely and Mumbai ended up gifting away 29 extras. Dwayne Bravo and Harbhajan Singh claimed two wickets each and Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan snapped one wicket apiece



Keiron Pollard butchered the Guyana bowlers with a whirlwind unbeaten half century to power Mumbai Indians to 184 for four in their crucial Group B match of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament here today. Pollard was at his ruthless best as hammered the Guyana bowlers to all parts of the ground to remain unbeaten on 72 that came off just 30 deliveries.

Mumbai's decision to send the imposing West Indian up the order bore fruit as he hit nine towering sixes and one four to take the Indian Premier League side to the formidable total after they were down at 99 for three at one stage. Pollard's domination with the bat can be ascertained from the fact that Mumbai piled up a mammoth 85 runs in the last overs.

Pollard's task, however, was made easy by the 82-run opening stand between Sachin Tendulkar (48 off 39) and Shikhar Dhawan (39 off 37). Even though Tendulkar was not at his elegant best, he and Dhawan ensured that Mumbai were off to a decent start that eventually laid the platform for Pollard''s late fireworks.



Towards the end, JP Duminy too came up with a vital six-ball 14-run knock to help his side''s cause. For Guyana, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets for 34 runs.

Opting to bat, Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhwan went out with a purpose and adopted an attacking mood from the word go. Tendulkar made his intentions clear with a smashing pull to the midwicket boundary of Crandon in the second over.

Dhawan, who so far had a forgetable outing in the tournament, got off the blocks with a huge six over square-leg boundary off Paul Wintz and then Tendulkar finshed off third over with another pulll to the midwicket fence. After the initial burst, even though the duo managed to rotate the strike with ones and twos, they found boundaries hard to come by.



Desperate to broke the shackles, Tendulkar was handed two lives by the butterfingered Guyana fielders as the champion bastman went for big hits in the ninth over. Crandon was the guilty fielder on the first occasion as he made a mess of a regulation running catch at long-on off Christopher Barnwell.

If that was not enough, in the very next ball Tendulkar was handed another life when a running Jonathan Foo dropped a difficult one at deep square leg. Tendulkar was utlisised those chances to perfection with back-to-back boundaries off Bishoo in the first two deliveries of the 11th over before falling to the leggie two balls later.

Source: PTI

South Australia beat Mumbai by five wickets

Durban: Fifties from Daniel Harris(56) and captain Michael Klinger(50) propelled the South Australian Redbacks to convincing five-wicket win over the Mumbai Indians.



Set a stiff target of 181 runs, the South Australians cantered home in the last over of the match. Needing 11 runs from the final six deliveries Tom Cooper held his nerve to smack Harbhajan Singh for six and then a four which sealed the game in Redbacks favour. The loss now makes it highly unlikely for the Mumbai Indians to qualify for the semifinals.

The Mumbai bowling attack bowled well in parts, with Lasith Malinga frequently beating the South Australian batters with his pace and swing. But it was Ali Murtaza's spin which drew blood for the Mumbai Indians. Murtaza had Harris caught by JP Duminy and his strike broke a century opening stand.




The opening partnership which was worth 112 runs swung the momentum in South Australia's favour and in the end was enough to pull down the massive target set by Mumbai. The Indians did themselves no favour by being pathetic in the fielding department. In all the Mumbai Indians dropped three catches and were generally poor on the field.

Earlier, Saurabh Tiwary smashed a whirlwind 44 as Mumbai Indians recovered from a shaky start to post a challenging 181 for seven against South Australia in their second Champions League twenty20 match here today. Tiwary smashed one four and four sixes and added 32 runs off 28 balls with Ambati Rayudu (38) and starred in a 58-run fifth wicket stand with Kieron Pollard (36) to resurrect the MI innings after they were tottering at 47/3 in 7.3 overs.







lecting to bat first, Mumbai Indians had a disastrous start as they lost opener Shikar Dhawan (2) in the second over with the scoreboard reading just 3. Sachin Tendulkar (20) tried to breakfree and clobbered a six and a couple of fours to accumulate 14 runs off Daniel Christian's first over to take MI to 31 for one in 5 overs.

But left-arm spinner Aaron O'Brien dismissed Tendulkar in the last ball of the next over to leave Mumbai tottering at 35 for two. Trying to accelerate, Tendulkar stepped out of his crease and swung hard, only to see his stumps all over the surface.







Silent all this while, Ambati Rayudu (38) then smashed O'Brien straight over his head for a six but the spinner bounced back to caught and bowl J P Duminy (3) in the third ball of the eighth over. With the South Australian bowlers bowling a tight line, Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary kept dealing in singles as boundaries dried up.

After three silent overs, Rayudu smashed a four bisecting the deep square leg and deep midwicket and followed it up with a six over deep extra cover to pick up 12 runs off O'Brien's over. But the wicketkeeper-batsman couldn't stay long as Cullen Bailey sent him packing with Daniel Harris pulling off a brilliant catch to reduce MI to 73 for four in 12.1 overs.





However, unperturbed by the dismissal Tiwary blasted Bailey over long-off for a flat six, while newman Kieron Pollard also followed suit with another maximum. Pollard fired another six over wide long-on off Daniel Christian to bring up the 100 for Mumbai Indians in 14 overs.

Tiwary went completely berserk in the 16th over, blasting a four and three consecutive sixes off O'Brien to amass 25 runs as MI reached 137 for four. With Tiwary looking unstoppable, Shaun Tait was brought back into the attack and the pacer struck in his first ball, removing Tiwary, who holed out to Callum Ferguson at mid-off.

Pollard and Dwayne Bravo then carried the innings forward adding 33 runs off 18 balls to take MI across the 150-mark, before being dismissed in the 20th over.

Scorecard

Source: PTI

Redbacks beat Lions by 11 runs

Centurion: Captain Michael Klinger smashed a blistering 78 as he led South Australia Redbacks to an 11-run victory over Highveld Lions in a Champions League Twenty20 match here.



Klinger led from the front with a strokeful 48-ball innings which had six fours and five sixes in it to take his side to 178 for six after they struggled on a lively SuperSport park pitch.

He found an able ally in Callum Ferguson, who scored a 27-ball 47 with seven fours and the duo shared 97 runs from just 57 balls for the third wicket after the Redbacks were put into bat.

Highveld Lions, who stunned Mumbai Indians in their opening match on Friday, were on course before they lost their way.

Opener Jonathan Vandiar, who top-scored with 71 against Mumbai Indians, could not repeat his heroics as he was out in the first over, dragging a Shaun Tait express delivery to his off stump.



Captain Alviro Petersen (35-ball 56) kept the Lions on course with some aggressive batting but once he was out in the 13th over, the South African side's run chase lost direction.

With the asking rate mounting, the Lions failed to deliver at the slog overs.

Lions needed 32 from the last two overs, and Robert Frylinck smashed two sixes off Tait in the penultimate over before he was out in the same over. That left 19 runs to be scored from the last over for a victory which the Lions could not achieve.

For the Redbacks, Tait, who generated a lot of pace with some deliveries touching 150kmph, was the most successful bowler with three for 36 from his four overs. Daniel Christian chipped in with two wickets while Aaron O'Brien got one.



Earlier, Klinger smashed a blistering 48-ball 78 to lead Redbacks to 178 for six.

South Australia lost opener Daniel Harris (13) and one-down Graham Manou (12) cheaply to reach 65 for two at the halfway mark before pressing the accelerator.

They scored 113 runs in the second half of their innings with opener Klinger and Australia international Callum Ferguson (47) raining fours and sixes. The duo shared 97 runs from just 57 balls for the third wicket to help their side post a challenging total.



The duo were particularly severe on pacers Zander de Bruyn and Ethan O'Reilly, with Ferguson smashing the two bowlers for three fours in the 16th and 17th overs respectively. He was run out in the 18th over after hitting seven fours in his 27-ball innings.

Klinger hit Robert Frylinck for two consecutive sixes in the 18th over and gave de Bruyn the same treatment in the next over before being out. He hit six fours and five sixes in all in his 48-ball innings.

Source: PTI

Will the ‘inspirational’ captain break the title jinx for MI?

Sachin Tendulkar has been hailed as the ‘inspirational’ captain by the entire team of Mumbai Indians. In April this year, he missed out on maiden title triumph for Mumbai Indians when the team lost the IPL final to Chennai Super Kings. The CL T20 is now his best chance to break the jinx but the little master will have to fight against the odds as Mumbai Indians do not start as bookies’ favourites.



When Mumbai Indians set out in the CL T20, one 'champion of cricket' will be itching to reach the summit. It is an irony that in 20 years of cricket, Sachin has not been very successful as a captain but for a few big moments like the Titan Cup although he has been in that role for a short period considering his stature as a cricketer.

His two tenures as India captain in 1997 and then in 1999 proved uninspiring. He was offered national duty again in 2007 but the little master declined the offer and rather recommended Dhoni for the top position.

But, the master blaster has been a revelation as a captain for Mumbai Indians. During the IPL this year, Mumbai Indians dominated every game on their way to the final before tripping at the last hurdle against Chennai Super Kings. For the little master, the CL T20 is a golden chance to break that jinx but the team will have to fight against the odds.



Ironically, the red-hot Sachin's Mumbai Indians are not the favourites with bookmakers to pull it off in the CL T20. Leading UK bookmaker Betfair.com has put the odds at 5.0 even for Victoria Bushrangers, making the Australian side the favourites to win the title. They are followed by Royal Challengers of Bangalore at 5.6, Chennai Super Kings at 5.7 and then come Mumbai Indians at 6 even. Veterans William Hill have more or less put same odds but have attached the favourites tag to RCB.

Bookies order of favourites for CL T20

1. Victoria Bushrangers
2. RCB
3. Chennai Super Kings
4. Mumbai Indians
5. Warriors
6. Highveld Lions
7. South Australia
8. Guyana
9. Wayamba
10. Central districts

'Champions of cricket' ready for blast



'Champions of cricket' ready for blast

Johannesburg: Under the watchful eyes of the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), the glitzy Champions League Twenty20 starts with the shadow of the spot-fixing scandal, that has shaken the core of the game, looming large.

Featuring the top three IPL teams apart from squads from Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies, the two-week event will open with IPL runners-up Mumbai Indians taking on Highveld Lions (South Africa).

Organisers say the tournament will have strict anti-corruption measures in place to ensure that the menace of spot-fixing, which has led to the suspension of three Pakistani cricketers, does not find a mention in the event.

Apart from Mumbai, the other Indian teams in fray are IPL champions Chennai Super Kings and third-place finishers Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Australia will be represented by South Australian Redbacks and Victorian Bushrangers, while South Africa will have the Warriors and Highveld Lions in fray.




Central Stags (New Zealand), Wayamba Elevens (Sri Lanka) and Guyana (West Indies) are the other three teams in the field.

None of the IPL teams who competed last year could make an impression and the three teams playing this year would seek to make amends for the previous edition's flop-show.

Leading the pack would be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai, which has a formidable line-up of big-hitters such as Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel and Justin Kemp.

Their bowling line-up features leading Test off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and they will be favourites to advance to the semifinals from Group A, which also features the Warriors, Victoria, Wayamba and Central Stags.

Bangalore, who were there in the field even the last time around, have a stronger batting line-up to boast of with the ever-reliable Rahul Dravid, explosive New Zealander Ross Taylor and the versatile South African Jacques Kallis.



The bowling has inspirational skipper Anil Kumble leading the spin department with Dale Steyn adding zing to the pace attack.

Kallis normally plays for the Warriors, while Taylor pads up for the Central Stags but both the players were bought by the IPL franchise after paying a USD 200,000 compensation to their respective state teams.

"The biggest challenge is how quickly you acclimatize to the conditions and the need to start well in the tournament," said Kumble.

Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai, on the other hand, also have a formidable look with their batting having the firepower of South African big-hitter JP Duminy and West Indian sensation Kieron Pollard.




The bowling features Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh with Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga proving the support.

"We have champions from all cricketing nations, so it's as tough as it can get. It is competitive ... and we have world-class players participating," said Tendulkar.

Mumbai grouped with Bangalore, the Highveld Lions, South Australia and Guyana.

The team they face in the tournament-opener on Friday, Highveld Lions, can be tagged as the underdogs. Banking on local support and some fireworks from batsmen such as Alviro Petersen and Neil McKenzie to match up to Mumbai's might.

The tournament would be played out in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Port Elizabeth, with the final on September 26.

Source: India Syndicate / PTI