Monday, October 7, 2013

Mumbai Indians Champions for CLT20 final Beat Rajasthan

At the Ferozeshah Kotla, Kushal Perera took off for a run that did not exist. Non striker Ajinkya Rahane said no. But by the time the Sri Lankan understood, Dinesh Karthik had taken the bails off. Not a good way to start if you are chasing a 203-run target in a Champions League t20 final.But people don’t write good things about Mr. Samson for nothing.

The young man keeps his head still, and highly keeps calm. Just 18, the right-hander made room, hitting Harbhajan Singh for his first six, down the ground. Nathan Coulter-Nile learnt some Malayalam the hard way. There was no way the Australian was going to keep quiet, after being hit for two fours and a six by Samson. 

Rahane and Samson had a strong partnership in place.

As the duo sustained to accelerate, Coulter-Nile let out a shriek as Maxwell and Harbhajan converge towards a catch, but ended up confusing each other as the ball fell safely onto the ground. The batsman was Sanju Samson.
However, in the next over, Samson would fall for 60 to Pragyan Ojha. Shane Watson made 8, before being bowled by Man-of-the-Match Harbhajan Singh. Rajasthan however still had their hopes up, as Ajinkya Rahane was still around. In over No.16, Harbhajan (4/34) accounted for Rahane, Binny and Cooper to put the game back in Mumbai Indians court.

Dravid was yorked by Coulter-Nile in his final innings, and he walked off after a pat on the back from the other farewell guest- Tendulkar. Mumbai Indians then wiped off the tail, to total a 33-run win, completing a double as they win the 2013 IPL as well.

Earlier,the Mumbai Indians to bat first.

After being tested by the first 2 deliveries of the match, Dwayne Smith smacked the 3rd for a six over midwicket. James Faulkner completed the over without any more damage. Tendulkar then played his first ball in the second over, for the last time in colored clothing. He managed a single, and survived a leg-before-wicket appeal from Shane Watson.

Rahul Shukla had given Smith a scare with a direct hit from 3rd man in the third over. But with his cap with the umpire, Shukla could only watch as the West Indian pulled off a boundary that added four runs to his account. At 27/0 after 4 overs, the Mumbai Indians were finding the accelerator.

The first four came on the off-side; the second was glanced down to long leg, while the third was driven with a lovely follow through. To a ball coming in, Tendulkar went on the up, with the front foot nowhere near the pitch of the ball. Watson smiled, while Tendulkar held the bat with both hands, before entering the dugout, with his team applaud.

15 runs. One last time.
 
Dwayne Smith (44) and Ambati Rayudu (29) continued to fire the cannons, but Pravin Tambe (2/19) had both right-hardens bowled, to come out as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker. But Kieron Pollard (15) and Rohit Sharma (33) continued the onslaught. Thankfully for Rajasthan, Faulkner bowled Pollard, before catching Sharma off Rahul Shukla.

But there would be no respite.

For Maxwell walked in and smashed his way to 37 off 14, hitting 4 fours and 2 sixes in the process. Dinesh Karthik (15*) and Harbhajan Singh (7*) struck a few lusty blows, to walk off with Mumbai registering a mammoth total of 202/6. 

Mumbai Indians: 202/6 (20)
D Smith -44(39)
G Maxwell -37(14)

Rajasthan: 169/10 (18.5)
A Rahane -64(47)
S Samson -60(33)

Player of the match
Harbhajan Singh 

Player of the series
D Smith

No comments:

Post a Comment