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Sachin Tendulkar at a net session at the MCG, as India prepare for the Boxing Day Test against Australia © Getty Images CLOSE
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Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Mumbai Indians complete dream run with title
On a night of mediocre cricket, the Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest prize, in financial terms, in non-international cricket. James Franklin was the only man to keep his head in a suicidal Mumbai innings, which helped them reach 139, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore once again choked in a final to lose despite a start of 38 for 0 in four overs.
Be that as it may, for a majority of the match the teams seemed to be in a contest for ordinary cricket. There were three run-outs, there were unsavoury slogs resulting in exposed stumps, the winning side bowled 10 out of a total of 13 wides, and MI's' keeper kept letting through byes. If Franklin's smart 41 off 29 suggested he was the only sober man in a Paris Hilton party, the Royal Challengers clearly outdid their opponents for rashness.
Dilshan's 27 until then had come off shots either through the line or through the covers, and he would have known how desperately MI would have wanted a wicket off what then seemed like a last roll of the dice. As it turned out, he swung across the line of a full first delivery, losing his off stump.
Kumar Dharmasena then made a potentially match-turning call. He had already got two lbw calls wrong in MI's innings, first reprieving Harbhajan Singh when he was plumb, then ruling him out when he wasn't. But his most consequential mistake was during the chase and again involved Harbhajan, who fired in quick offbreaks in his first over. The ball had a massive distance to travel, and the ball-tracking predicted it would have hit the outside of off stump. Conventional wisdom would have ruled it in the batsman's favour, and even Gayle lost his cool when he saw the finger come up.
With an unreliable batting order, pampered by the true Bangalore surface and short boundaries, to follow, it was down to the only survivor of the Royal Challengers' 2009 choke, Virat Kohli, to shepherd the rest through. However, he found himself batting with a trigger-happy Mayank Agarwal, who despite all his attempts at power hitting managed 14 off 19 before holing out to long-off. Even when the desperate Agarwal got out, the Royal Challengers needed a manageable 73 off 57.
Kohli felt the pinch too. Perhaps it was the presence of Malinga in the end, perhaps it was just the shock of having to work hard for runs after the flat Bangalore pitch, but even he didn't show the willingness to take the game to the deep end. In the next over he holed out to deep midwicket. Everybody knew it was game over there and then.
The rest were just a blurry procession of catching and stumping practice, a complete contrast to how Franklin managed a strike-rate of close to 150 without a shot hit in anger. There was no dearth of madness around him either. Sarul Kanwar first ran Aiden Bliazzard out before slogging around a full delivery. Ambati Rayudu struggled to find singles in the middle, and a positive 40-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav ended with a run-out.
Franklin ensured the trend continued, hesitating during a second run to complete the third run-out. Kieron Pollard's massive leading edge travelled as far as long-off, and MI were in a tailspin after looking good for a repeat of their 160 from the semi-final. Although it didn't look enough at the moment, Malinga's two sixes in the end turned out to be surplus.
Both teams were fined for slow over-rates. Harbhajan, the MI captain, was fined US$3,000 and each MI player $1,500 for being two overs behind the required over-rate. The Royal Challengers players were fined $750 and their captain Vettori $1,500 for being one over behind the required rate
Be that as it may, for a majority of the match the teams seemed to be in a contest for ordinary cricket. There were three run-outs, there were unsavoury slogs resulting in exposed stumps, the winning side bowled 10 out of a total of 13 wides, and MI's' keeper kept letting through byes. If Franklin's smart 41 off 29 suggested he was the only sober man in a Paris Hilton party, the Royal Challengers clearly outdid their opponents for rashness.
Dilshan's 27 until then had come off shots either through the line or through the covers, and he would have known how desperately MI would have wanted a wicket off what then seemed like a last roll of the dice. As it turned out, he swung across the line of a full first delivery, losing his off stump.
Kumar Dharmasena then made a potentially match-turning call. He had already got two lbw calls wrong in MI's innings, first reprieving Harbhajan Singh when he was plumb, then ruling him out when he wasn't. But his most consequential mistake was during the chase and again involved Harbhajan, who fired in quick offbreaks in his first over. The ball had a massive distance to travel, and the ball-tracking predicted it would have hit the outside of off stump. Conventional wisdom would have ruled it in the batsman's favour, and even Gayle lost his cool when he saw the finger come up.
With an unreliable batting order, pampered by the true Bangalore surface and short boundaries, to follow, it was down to the only survivor of the Royal Challengers' 2009 choke, Virat Kohli, to shepherd the rest through. However, he found himself batting with a trigger-happy Mayank Agarwal, who despite all his attempts at power hitting managed 14 off 19 before holing out to long-off. Even when the desperate Agarwal got out, the Royal Challengers needed a manageable 73 off 57.
Kohli felt the pinch too. Perhaps it was the presence of Malinga in the end, perhaps it was just the shock of having to work hard for runs after the flat Bangalore pitch, but even he didn't show the willingness to take the game to the deep end. In the next over he holed out to deep midwicket. Everybody knew it was game over there and then.
The rest were just a blurry procession of catching and stumping practice, a complete contrast to how Franklin managed a strike-rate of close to 150 without a shot hit in anger. There was no dearth of madness around him either. Sarul Kanwar first ran Aiden Bliazzard out before slogging around a full delivery. Ambati Rayudu struggled to find singles in the middle, and a positive 40-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav ended with a run-out.
Franklin ensured the trend continued, hesitating during a second run to complete the third run-out. Kieron Pollard's massive leading edge travelled as far as long-off, and MI were in a tailspin after looking good for a repeat of their 160 from the semi-final. Although it didn't look enough at the moment, Malinga's two sixes in the end turned out to be surplus.
Both teams were fined for slow over-rates. Harbhajan, the MI captain, was fined US$3,000 and each MI player $1,500 for being two overs behind the required over-rate. The Royal Challengers players were fined $750 and their captain Vettori $1,500 for being one over behind the required rate
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Trott is happy to see his batting at Hyderabad
For a player who is ICC Cricketer of the Year and has hit heady heights with his run-scoring, Jonathan Trott still has to cope with plenty of questions being asked about his place especially in the one-day game. However, unsurprisingly for a man whose key trait is the single-mindedness he brings to his batting, Trott isn't getting worked up by thoughts of having to fight for his England berth.
For an older guy of the team it's a good thing to see that strength in depth," he said. "It spurs you on to try to push yourself and become even better.
"You've got to go about it the best way you think you can contribute to the team," he added. "That's all I try to do, the only thing I really think about when I go out in the middle. Sometimes you get it wrong, play the wrong shot, but it's always while you're trying to do your best for your team-mates. I think everyone's got that mentality and that's why we've been pretty successful over the last few years."
There is stiff competition for batting places in the England line-up following Bairstow's recent performances, including the 53-ball hundred on Tuesday, and it could be that Ian Bell, their most impressive Test batsman during the home season, misses out for the first one-day international. Kevin Pietersen is back in the one-day se, although he failed in both warm-up matches while Ravi Bopara has enjoyed a consistent run.
"It's not a case of looking over your shoulder. You can't go very far forward if you're looking over your shoulder the whole time. I don't think that's a very good mentality to have, worrying about your own place.
For an older guy of the team it's a good thing to see that strength in depth," he said. "It spurs you on to try to push yourself and become even better.
"You've got to go about it the best way you think you can contribute to the team," he added. "That's all I try to do, the only thing I really think about when I go out in the middle. Sometimes you get it wrong, play the wrong shot, but it's always while you're trying to do your best for your team-mates. I think everyone's got that mentality and that's why we've been pretty successful over the last few years."
There is stiff competition for batting places in the England line-up following Bairstow's recent performances, including the 53-ball hundred on Tuesday, and it could be that Ian Bell, their most impressive Test batsman during the home season, misses out for the first one-day international. Kevin Pietersen is back in the one-day se, although he failed in both warm-up matches while Ravi Bopara has enjoyed a consistent run.
"It's not a case of looking over your shoulder. You can't go very far forward if you're looking over your shoulder the whole time. I don't think that's a very good mentality to have, worrying about your own place.
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England tour in india schudule of matches
1st ODI: India v England at Hyderabad (Deccan)
Oct 14, 2011 (14:30 local | 09:00 GMT)
2nd ODI: India v England at Delhi
Oct 17, 2011 (14:30 local | 09:00 GMT)
3rd ODI: India v England at Mohali
Oct 20, 2011 (14:30 local | 09:00 GMT)
4th ODI: India v England at Mumbai
Oct 23, 2011 (14:30 local | 09:00 GMT)
5th ODI: India v England at Kolkata
Oct 25, 2011 (14:30 local | 09:00 GMT)
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