Tendulkar-led MI crush Kolkata again

MI made one change to their playing eleven – Dhawal Kulkarni made way for Rajesh Pawar.

KKR (Moham)made a couple of changes to their playing eleven – Tatenda Taibu and Iqbal Abdulla made way for Hafeez and Ajit Agarkar.  

On winning the toss, Sachin Tendulkar, MI’s skipper, chose to field.

The first Powerplay of KKR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 27, and lost three wickets.

Salman Butt, whose run-a-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 13. Seventeen balls into the match, he was caught by Tendulkar. Shaun Pollock, the player of the match, broke the 16-run stand.

The second-wicket pair failed to get off the mark. Aakash, who faced four balls, scored a run. The next ball, Robin Uthappa and Pollock (Chop)ran him out.

David Hussey had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored just a couple. Eight balls later, he was caught by Yogesh Takawale. Pollock broke the five-run stand.

Hafeez, whose 11-ball innings included a boundary, scored five. Fourteen balls later, he was caught by Uthappa. Needless to say, Pollock was in seventh heaven.

Wriddhiman, who faced Saha balls, scored just a run. Seven balls later, he was caught by Tendulkar. Dwayne Br(av)oke the one-run stand.

Laxmi Ratan, who faced four balls, didn’t get off the mark. Eight ballS(huk)later, Rohan Raje broke the six-run stand.

KKR scored 50 off 11.5 overs (71 balls). MI had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point.

Sourav Ganguly, KKR’s skipper, scored 15. His 20-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. Twenty-one balls after Shukla’s dismissal, he was caught by Takawale. Dominic Thornely broke the 20-run stand.

Agarkar, whose 14-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 15. Half-a-dozen balls later, he was caught by Tendulkar. Bravo broke the five-run stand.

Ishant Sharma, who faced five balls, scored four. His runs came by way of a boundary. Five balls later, he was caught by Thornely, who broke the run-a-ball stand.

Shoaib Akhtar had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored just a couple. Five balls later, he was caught by Tendulkar. Raje broke the two-run stand.

Ashok Dinda, who faced a ball, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

MI eventually conceded eight extras. KKR were bundled out for 67 off 15.2 overs.

Ashish Nehra, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 17.

Raje, who bowled 2.2 overs, conceded 16. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Bravo and Thornely, who bowled three overs each. While the former, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 13, the latter was in seventh heaven.

Pollock, who bowled four overs, conceded a dozen. He picked up three scalps.

The first Powerplay of MI’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 68, and lost a couple of wickets.

Tendulkar, who faced three balls, didn’t get off the mark. Five balls into the chase, he was caught by Saha. Akhtar broke the six-run stand.

Uthappa, whose eight-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored nine. Seventeen balls later, he was caught by Ganguly. Sharma broke the 42-run stand.

MI scored 50 off 4.1 overs (25 balls). KKR had conceded four extras at that point.

Sanath Jayasuriya, whose 17-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and three sixes, scored 48. He was unbeaten, as was Thornely, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scoring just a run.

KKR eventually conceded 10 extras. MI, who scored 68 for the loss of a couple of wickets off 5.3 overs, won by eight wickets with 87 balls to spare.

Agarkar, who faced a wicketless over, conceded five.

Both Akhtar, who bowled a couple of overs, and Sharma, who bowled 15 balls, conceded 29 each, picking up a scalp apiece.