Sachin's Team wins over Chennai Super Kings of M Singh Dhoni
The opening match of the IPL got underway after some anxious moments of gray clouds and rain - but nothing, not even the weather gods it seems - could thwart Lalit Modi's pet project, and the sun came out in the nick of the time to allow the match to proceed as scheduled.It couldn't have been a better match up on paper. Two well-balanced teams, both fancied for the title, with two iconic leaders.
MS Dhoni won the toss and had no hesitation in putting Mumbai in, on a pitch that was expected to have something for the bowlers, especially early on.
Mumbai started off well enough, although a bit cautiously, with the experienced duo of Jayasuriya and Tendulkar having to negotiate movement and variable bounce off the pitch.
Tendulkar benefitted when Hayden dropped a sitter with the little master on 10, and Jayasuriya found the boundary with his trademark cuts and pulls.
It was Jayasuriya's Sri Lankan team-mate, Thilan Thushara, who provided the breakthrough for Chennai when he got Jayasuriya to chip one tamely to Hayden at midwicket, who didn't grass it this time.
Shikhar Dhawan and Tendulkar then built a steady partnership, with Mumbai's intent obviously being to conserve wickets for a final onslaught.
Manpreet Gony however, had other ideas. He first got Dhawan with a top edged pull to give Dhoni at midwicket an easy catch and also the first c Dhoni b Gony moment of the IPL.
Then he got JP Duminy with a brilliant reflex catch, when Duminy was too early into a full-blooded pull and only succeeded in hitting it of the toe end of the bat straight back to the bowler.
The next over had Joginder Sharma getting into the act, deceiving Dwayne Bravo with a slower one.
Mumbai were in a hole, but Abhishek Nayar dug them out of it with a spectacular cameo, during the course of which he slammed the first six - or rather the first DLF Maximum - off Andrew Flintoff, and promptly celebrated by taking two more sixes off that Flintoff over. His 35 off just 14 balls, ensured that Mumbai would cross the 150 mark.
They eventually ended up at a very decent 165 for 7, thanks in no small measure to Sachin Tendulkar anchoring the innings with a well made 59 not out - although it seems odd to talk about an innings that was scored at a strike rate of over 120 as an 'anchoring' innings. But then, such is the nature of the T20 game.
Chennai began in disastrous fashion, with Lasith Malinga getting Parthiv Patel off the second ball of the match, poking at a delivery outside the off-stump for Tendulkar to take a fine tumbling catch to a ball that was dipping on him.
Raina followed soon after, falling to Bravo - which was some consolation for the bowler, who had seen Hayden dropped by wicketkeeper Pinal Shah off a swirling top edge the previous ball.
Chennai had their most productive phase when Flintoff joined Hayden to forge a 52 run partnership off 7 overs. With either player capable of exploding and changing the game in a couple of overs, Mumbai needed a wicket and Harbhajan obliged. After a teasing first over, he got Flintoff - deceived by the doosra to offer a tame return catch off the leading edge.
Harbhajan and Jayasuriya bowled well in tandem to choke the runs, and the pressure of the big hits got to Hayden who fell to Jayasuriya when Zaheer Khan took a fine catch, diving to his right.
Chennai were facing an uphill task after that, but in Oram, Dhoni and Badrinath they had the batsmen who could be up to the challenge. That was not to be, as Mumbai's bowlers turned in a bravura performance to not let the batsmen get on top at any stage of the innings. Dhoni played a lone hand, but ultimately against Malinga's reverse swing and Zaheer Khan's yorkers, the asking rate was too steep.
The Super Kings also erred when they sent in Joginder Sharma ahead of Thushara. Thushara would have probably dealt with the bowling better than Sharma, who often looked all at sea.
Man of the Match:
Sachin Tendulkar, who scored an unbeaten half-century under testing batting conditions, and also took a fine catch.
Turning Point of the match:
The 18th over of Mumbai's innings when Nayar smashed Flintoff for 3 sixes. The over cost Chennai 22 runs. They lost the match by 19.
Soundbytes:
"I think Bhajji bowled very well. The pitch was a bit damp early on but later on it was pretty good for batting. A score of may be 180 is a
par score on such a wicket. Even the last time, we didn't start off very well but got into the rhythm after a few games." - Dhoni
"When I lost the toss, I felt that there was a bit of dampness in the wicket. Early on it was tough to bat but the wicket eased a bit.
Nayar did a great job towards the end and my job was to stay there till the end. It is always good to start with a performance like this." - Tendulkar
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