 Bravo, Jayasuriya lead Mumbai Indians to maiden victory
30th Apr 2008 08:00 IST
Agencies
Fine all-round performances by Dwayne Bravo and Sanath Jayasuriya helped Mumbai Indians to register their maiden victory in the Indian Premier League as they beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata Tuesday night.
West Indian all-rounder Bravo shone with the bat coming up with a superlative unbeaten knock of 64 as the Mumbai team, mired with controversy surrounding Harbhajan Singh, scored their first win in five matches.
The Kolkata team suffered its second straight loss, after scoring two successive wins.
Chasing a modest 138 to win, Mumbai were reduced to 25/3 in the fifth over before a 113-run fourth-wicket partnership between Bravo and Robin Uthappa (37 not out) sealed them a win.
Mumbai Indians’ innings began on a promising note with openers Ajinkya Rahane and Jayasuriya negotiating the new ball with élan.
The Sri Lankan started in fine fashion picking up a four and a six off Ishant Sharma’s first over. Kolkata Knight Riders earned success in the next over when Ajit Agarkar had Rahane taken at mid-on.
Jayasuriya (18, 10b, 3x4, 1x6) found Sharma at his express best and saw his off-stump cart-wheeling at the total of 25 and young Manish Pandey too was bowled by Ashok Dinda for a duck.
But despite losing three early wickets, Mumbai Indians’ fourth-wicket pair of Uthappa and Bravo mixed controlled aggression with caution to completely take the match away from the home side.
It was indeed a revelation to see the two produce the match-winning unbeaten 113-run partnership, a championship record. Coming together at 25/3 in 4.1 overs, Uthappa and Bravo dominated the show to silence the near-capacity crowd.
The teams were almost equal at the end of the 11th over, but Bravo turned the match in the 12th over bowled by left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. Bravo plundered two boundaries and a six, the over yielding 15 runs.
In an unhurried fashion the two went about gathering runs despite Sourav Ganguly making a number of bowling changes. The two added 50 off 43 balls and 100 off 74 balls. Bravo batted outstandingly for his unbeaten 64 in 53 balls with the aid of eight fours and a six.
The turning point of the match was when Debabrata Das dropped Uthappa, on five then, at the total of 38/3.
Bravo's 53-ball knock contained eight boundaries and a huge six and ensured Mumbai's win with eight balls to spare.
Agarkar, Ishant and Dinda took a wicket each for the Knight Riders, but the home team's total was too paltry in the final analysis.
continued.. |
