MI trounced by Warne-led RR

MI made one change to their playing eleven – Aiden Blizzard made way for James Franklin.

RR made four changes to their playing eleven – Faiz Fazal, Jacob Oram, Shaun Tait and Nayan Doshi made way for Johan Botha, Ross Taylor, Amit Singh and Siddharth Trivedi.

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

The first Powerplay of MI’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 26, and lost a couple of wickets.

Tirumalasetti Suman, whose six-ball innings included a boundary, scored five. Nine balls into the match, he was caught by Ashok Menaria. (Sha)Needless to say, Watson, the player of the match, was in seventh heaven.

Ambati Rayudu, who faced eight balls, scored a couple. Fifteen balls later, he was caught by Ross Taylor. Watson broke the 10-run stand.

MI scored 50 off nine overs (54 balls). RR had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

Tendulkar, whose 35-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 31. Forty-five balls later, he was caught by Watson. Amit broke the 48-run stand.

Rohit Sharma’s half-century – which included five boundaries and a six – came off 36 balls.

MI scored 100 off 16.1 overs (97 balls). RR had conceded three extras at that point.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 50 off 35 balls. While Sharma’s contribution to the partnership was 29, Kieron Pollard’s contribution to it was 19. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was three.

Pollard, whose 18-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, eventually scored 20. Thirty-nine balls after Tendulkar’s dismissal, Watson broke the 53-run partnership.

Sharma, whose 47-ball innings included five boundaries and a six, eventually scored 58. Ten balls later, he was stumped by Pinal Shah. Shane Warne, RR’s skipper, broke the 13-run stand.

Franklin, whose five-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 11. He was unbeaten, as was Harbhajan Singh, who faced a ball, scoring a run.

RR eventually conceded five extras. MI scored 133 for the loss of five wickets off 20 overs.

Menaria and Trivedi bowled a wicketless over apiece. While the former conceded a dozen, the latter conceded nine.

Botha and Ankeet Chavan bowled four wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 24, the latter conceded 17.

Amit bowled a couple of overs, conceding 20. He picked up a wicket, as did Warne, who bowled four overs, conceding 30.

Watson bowled four overs, conceding 19. He picked up three scalps.

The first Powerplay of RR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 52, without the loss of a wicket.

RR’s openers put on 50 off half-a-dozen overs (36 balls). MI had conceded an extra at that point. While Watson’s contribution to the partnership was 45, Rahul Dravid’s contribution to it was half-a-dozen.

Watson’s half-century – which included half-a-dozen boundaries and three sixes – came off 30 balls.

RR’s openers put on 100 off 10.3 overs (63 balls). MI had conceded a couple of extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded. While Watson’s contribution to the partnership was 78, Dravid’s contribution to it was 23.

Both Watson and Dravid were unbeaten. While the former, whose 47-ball innings included nine boundaries and half-a-dozen sixes, eventually scored 89, the latter, whose 32-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, eventually scored 43.

RR, who scored 134 without the loss of a wicket off 13.1 overs, won by 10 wickets with 41 balls to spare.

Obviously, each of the six bowlers was wicketless.

Franklin bowled a ball, conceding four.

Harbhajan bowled a couple of overs, conceding 27.

Both Dhawal and Pollard bowled a couple of overs each, conceding (Kulkar)nineteen apiece.

Munaf Patel bowled three overs, conceding 23.

Lasith Malinga bowled four overs, conceding 42.