Mumbai Indians Rule IPL Roost

It was a good weekend all round for Mumbai Indians. A comfortable 37 run win over Deccan Chargers returned them to the top of the IPL points table after six games and the individual accolades keep coming for their star performers.

Sachin Tendulkar, left, and Lasith Malinga are the IPL’s top performers and are spearheading Mumbai Indians’ challenge for the title

The orange cap, worn by the tournament’s leading run scorer, found its way onto the top of Sachin Tendulkar’s head on Sunday during the win over Deccan. On his 38th birthday the Little Master scored 28 runs, taking him eight runs clear of Kings XI Punjab’s Paul Valthaty at the top of the run scoring charts.

Tendulkar now has 269 runs in IPL 4, leading the way from Valthaty, Jacques Kallis, David Warner and teammate Ambati Rayudu – the only other players to have passed the 200 mark so far.

In the wicket taking charts it is Sri Lankan seamer Lasith Malinga who continues to be almost unplayable. His hugely impressive four over spell against Deccan yielded three wickets for the concession of just nine runs and cemented his place at the top of the wicket taking charts.

Malinga now has 16 wickets and is the only man into double figures in that regard. His closest challenger is Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne on nine.

Whilst the orange cap will doubtless sit on a few different heads throughout the remainder of IPL 4, it is difficult to envisage anyone other than Malinga wearing the purple cap that is awarded to the top wicket taker.

With 29 matches now having been played, the table is starting to take its true form. Mumbai look well set at the top with 10 points, whilst Deccan Chargers have much work to do at the foot of the table on four points. They are joined by Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors, but both have a game in hand on Deccan. Royal Challengers Bangalore sit uncomfortably above this triumvirate on five points from their six games.

There is, however, still a long way to go. If Mumbai manage to keep Tendulkar and Malinga in full flow, though, they will be a very difficult to side to stop as they look to go one better on last year’s defeat to Chennai Super Kings in the final.

Another ominous fact for their rest of the sides is that IPL 4 hasn’t yet seen the best Kieron Pollard…

Sachin Tendulkar, left, and Lasith Malinga are the IPL's top performers and are spearheading Mumbai Indians' challenge for the title

Chennai Win Marred by ‘IPL gate’ Scandal

Congratulations to Chennai on achieving victory over Mumbai to lift the IPL title for the first time. The perfect remedy for the side after losing out to Rajasthan in the final two years ago. Tendulkar top scored for Mumbai with 48 and had a great campaign but his team was simply not good enough to chase a fairly tame target of 168, largely thanks to the bowling of Shadab Jakati, who took 3-31 including the wicket of the little master.

This years tournament was one of the best and heralded some great play from some of cricket’s biggest names but also some of the smaller ones too. This is a topic we will look at later.

However, while all that was going on the in-fighting and rumours of corruption continued to swell round the corridors of power at the IPL headquarters. An emergency meeting of the board has now seen Lalit Modi suspended as chairman.

After the investigation of Lalit Modi, which included alleged franchise bid rigging and broadcasting rights irregularities, the whole integrity of the IPL has been put at stake. Something tells me that this thing is going to get bigger and far worse before it gets better. There is simply too much money at stake to allow it to be swept under the carpet and sponsors and T.V companies who have paid a lot money towards the competition will undoubtedly want answers. So will the general public both in India and overseas. And that is the problem. Too much money, too much glitz with a hint of politics thrown in and you have a recipe for disaster.

This scandal, now being dubbed ‘IPL gate’ by some, will be music to the ears of the cricketing purists who believe the IPL is a threat to the origins, history and mostly the traditions of the game. While most cricket fans want to see Test Cricket upheld. those fans will also want to see this scandal resolved and the integrity of the IPL restored so we can carry on enjoying what we have witnessed over the past three years.

Little Man with Big Point to Prove

There are still a handful of matches to go in this years IPL but Mumbai Indians are already scenting victory in the race for the title, mostly down to the heroics of one man.

Mumbai have opened up a four point lead in the title race thanks a great deal to the batting masterclass of ‘The Little Master”. Tendulkar has scored a mere 512 runs in just 11 games. Only Jacques Kallis has scored more, and only by  a whisker. Whats more, Tendulkar has played one game less than his South African rival.

Tendulkar has a point to prove. Over recent years many have started to doubt his ability. Many say his hunger for the game, his hunger for runs which has for so long burned so brightly, has started to fade. On this season’s evidence, how wrong can they be. The Indian International has cut, pulled, stroked, smashed and blazed his way to 512 runs against some fierce opposition and quality bowlers to once more grace both the headlines and the hearts of the Indian public. Tendulkars fine 89 against Rajasthan was not only breathtaking but it was a lesson in compatriotism, in that fans from both franchises were cheering him on, proving that he is still the pride of India.

Of course the likes of Harbhajan, Malinga and Khan have bowled effortlessly but it is the bat of Tendulkar which strikes the most fear into the opposition. Mumbai are well on their way……

Mumbai v Kolkata Preview

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Venue: Wankede Stadium Mumbai.

This crucial match in the IPL throws up some interesting battles. Firstly it is the new ball pace pair Ishant Sharma and Pakistan talisman Shoaib Ahktar bowling against opening pair Sanath Jayasuriya and legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Jayasuriya recently scored a century against Chennai (the only hundred scored so far in May) and will be looking to add to that here. Ahktar on the other hand bowled fantastically in the win over the Delhi Daredevils on his debut game.

Both sides will be looking for a win to boost there semi final credentials. So this will be a close game. However I can’t help thinking that Mumbai will make it six wins on the bounce because of Kolkata’s weakness with their batting. Only David Hussey and captain Sourav Ganguly seem to have the experience and guise to hold up a fairly strong Mumbai attack. Mumbai struggled at the beginning especially with Tendulkar out but have come back strong as I predicted before the tournament began.

My predicted result: Mumbai Indians to win. 

 

 

Bangalore beat Mumbai

 V    Full scorecard

 

Bangalore Royal Challengers put their opening IPL defeat behind them as they recorded a 5 wicket win against Mumbai at Wankede Stadium.

A late South African onslaught from Jacques Kallis (25) and Mark Boucher (39 n.o) saw Bangalore home after Mumbai batted first reaching 165-6 from their 20 overs.

Robin Uthappa was the star for Mumbai, as he hit 48 from 38 balls before being stumped by Boucher off Balachandra Akhil. Sachin Tendulkar could not feature due to injury but Shaun Pollock blazed a late 28 from just 12 balls to give Mumbai a competitive total.

Despite losing five wickets in the reply, all the Bangalore batsmen chipped in with some runs with captain Rahul Dravid scoring 32 before Kallis and Boucher blazed 55 from 31 balls to help get Bangalore home with two balls to spare. Harbhajan Singh’s 36-2 off his 4 overs not enough to prevent defeat for Mumbai.

Final result: Bangalore Royals won by 5 wickets.

Watch all the wickets below: