Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers (second encounter)
IPL 2009
This is the second chase of a moderate total that Mumbai messed up. After losing Jayasuria and Tendulkar early, Pinal Shah -who was expected to bat sometime- finally did and pushed the rate for them. He was organized and innovative as well to flatten out the moderate strike rate of 25 runs over a run-a-ball.
Eventually needing about 47 in 36, Bravo tried to go for the big shot of fringe spinner Suman. You can blame him, but had it cleared, the equation would then be close to run a ball- so it was not the worst idea, but he could have waited toward the end of the over, perhaps? Anyway what followed - was a hat-trick given away to Rohit Sharma... 31 of 18 with only the tail wagging (Malinga not in yet with a hit? I thought he was capable of decent hits).
Anyway, as a Mumbai Indians fan, it was heartening to see Pinal Shah approach his innings. It is still a wide open field and Mumbai need to win 3 or 4 of their next 6 matches. Hopefully the worst is behind them, and Zaheer can get fit soon. And if a team cannot win 3/4 in 6, they do not perhaps deserve to be in the semis anyway.
The good news so far is that, Mumbai have usually managed to be in the race when their top two have failed, which I would doubt if most other teams would hold on.
Saumil
Mumbai
7 May 2009
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