Mumbai Indians x Kolkata Knight Riders
It was almost a do-or-die battle for KKR. Mumbai also wanted to win the match at all cost as it will improve their position for the run for first 4 positions.
Both teams had explosive batting power at top, but they failed in the match. Jayasurya/Sachin partnership for Mumbai and Saurav/Gayle partnership for KKR just couldnt explode as expected. What came to the help of both teams were their younger players.
JP Duminy once again played a gem for Mumbai. He got good support this time from his team members, unlike last time when he find himself stranded in the chase against Rajasthan. Sachin too played his part, but he got dismissed, hitting a full toss to the hands of the cover fielder, leaving the load on the shoulders of the young players in the team. Duminy for most part of the inning was playing the characteristic “Duminy inning” by milking the KKR bowlers and hitting big shots whenever there was a loose delivery on offer. Towards the end of the game, Duminy opened his shoulders and was clearing the boundary with little effort. He ended with a fantastically made 52 with 4 SIXs. It was a real Man of the Match inning if Mumbai were to go on to win the match.
KKR inning started with a twin disaster, losing their openers to Zaheer Khan. Zaheer was his shadow in this season so far. His partner Malinga almost always stole the limelight when it comes to Mumbai bowling. Brad Hodge and Van Wyk came to the help of KKR with putting up a strong fight. They were particularly good with slow bowlers. Hodge was successful in hitting the ball over the boundary on several occasions, keeping KKR in line with the required rate. They managed to scribe a new record in their name – the highest 3rd wicket partnership in the IPL.
In the end, it was pretty evident that the guy between Mumbai and victory was Brad Hodge. Mumbai had to remove him if they wanted to register their third victory of the season. KKR captain McCullum was giving good company to Hodge. The situation was looking pretty hefty for Mumbai.
KKR needed 23 from 12 balls. They needed some boundary from the 19th over bowled by malinga. Malinga was accurate, as usual. He bowled four consecutive yorkers to start off the over, giving away only 3 runs in the process. Boundary was the call of the moment, but Malinga bowled a slow-ball bouncer to fool Hodge on the fourth ball. It was a 50-50 decision, but umpire refused to call it a head-high NO BALL. The next ball provided the death blow to KKR as Hodge got runout. He made an impressive 73 before trying that suicidal second run, falling pray to a strong throw from Duminy in the midwicket boundary.
Abhishek Nayar was given the oppurtunity to bowl the last over. He did a fine job by dismissing McCullum in the 3rd ball, ending the hopes of KKR team.
I think the turning point of the match came when Laxmi Rathan Shukla was sent out when Van Wyk got out instead of McCullum. Another huge negative for KKR were the last 4 overs they bowled, giving away 51 runs.
Royal Challengers x Kings IX Punjab
Till 3/4th of the match, it belonged to only man – Yuvraj Singh. He got the Man of the Match award for the first HAT-TRICK of the season and a fantastic 50 from 34 balls with 4 SIXs. From the rest 1/4th part of the match, Bangalore played out of their skin and won it miraculously.
The turning point was Yuvraj’s wicket, who was going through the roof at that point of time. Credit to Kumble for luring Yuvi with a slow googly, producing the mishit in the process.
Yuvraj would be pretty worried with the form of Mahela Jayawardena who is failing game after game and they have no other foreign players in the squad to replace him. What a calamity. I thought Katich should have played early in the season, but he was unfortunate today, getting out via a RUN-OUT.
Kumble bowled well..bringing all his experience into the match, especially in the crunch situations. Wickets of Yuvraj and Sangakkara were the product of his master brain. Both those wickets were so crucial, without which I dont think Bangalore could have achieved this victory.
Another thing about this Bangalore team is their 3 South African players. Boucher, Kallis, and Roelof van der Merwe. Boucher and Kallis are gifted with lot of talent and are existential. Wan der Merwer has “something” in him – some charisma. His cameo, 35 from 19 balls with 3 FOURs and 3 SIXs really, gave a decent score to defend for the Bangalore team. I am sure he will go places with the South African national team.
Finally a word about Yuvraj’s HAT-TRICK… He is a cool bowler. Dhoni uses him cleverly. In fact, Yuvraj had a mark on Kevin Pieterson when England toured India last year. He is a very under-rated bowler in the international cricket. I think if pitch is little slow, he will surely come into play with the ball. Having said that, I have my doubts about his third victim of the day – Boucher’s dismissal. I think he was hit out side the off stump. To my dismay, broadcaster chose not to show the replay with a pitch map. Anyway…hats off to this girl-loving hard-hitter of India.
| 
