MUMBAI Indians gifted birthday boy and skipper Sachin Tendulkar a 37-run victory in an Indian Premier League match against Deccan Chargers on Sunday (April 24).
In another match, leg-spinner Shane Warne grabbed 3-16 to help Rajasthan Royals beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala by eight wickets in Jaipur for their third win in seven games.
Middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma and fast bowler Lasith Malinga were the stars of Mumbai’s fifth win in six matches of the Twenty20 tournament.
Sharma smashed three sixes and five fours in his 34-ball 56 not out and Malinga took 3-9 off four tight overs as Mumbai restricted Deccan to 135-8 after scoring 172-4 in Hyderabad.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara top-scored with 34 for Deccan, who suffered their fourth defeat in six matches. The Sri Lankan had been batting well before being bowled by compatriot Malinga.
Mumbai were earlier tottering at 70-4 before Sharma led the recovery with a 102-run stand off just 65 balls for the unfinished fifth wicket with Australian Andrew Symonds, who scored an unbeaten 44 off 33 balls.
Sharma’s three sixes came in the last over, bowled by Australian seamer Daniel Christian, as Mumbai plundered 40 runs in the last two overs. Symonds hit one six and four boundaries in his 33-ball innings.
Mumbai were comfortably placed at 70-1 following brisk knocks from openers Davy Jacobs (32) and Tendulkar (28) before losing three wickets at the same score, with leg-spinner Amit Mishra taking two wickets in one over.
Tendulkar, who turned 38 on Sunday, cracked four boundaries in his 24-ball knock before being caught at long-on by South African Dale Steyn while attempting a big shot off Mishra.
But the master batsman, the world’s leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket, skipped his birthday celebrations following the death of his spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba in the morning.
Rajasthan faced no difficulty in achieving a modest 110-run target, with openers Shane Watson (49) and Rahul Dravid (44) being the main run-getters.
Parthiv Patel top-scored with 32 for Kochi, who suffered their third defeat in six matches.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 172-4 in 20 overs (R. Sharma 56 not out, A. Symonds 44 not out, D. Jacobs 32, S. Tendulkar 28; A. Mishra 2-14) beat Deccan Chargers 135-8 in 20 overs (Kumar Sangakkara 34, A. Mishra 25 not out, S. Dhawan 25, D. Christian 21; L. Malinga 3-9) by 37 runs.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 109 in 20 overs (P. Patel 32, R. Jadeja 22; S. Warne 3-16, S. Trivedi 3-19) lost to Rajasthan Royals 111-2 in 14.1 overs (S. Watson 49, R. Dravid 44) by eight wickets.
