Sachin Tendulkar cracked a scorching half-century to help Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket IPL triumph over Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mumbai skipper lifts side to decisive win
Sachin Tendulkar cracked a scorching half-century to help Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket Indian Premier League triumph over Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday.
The victory sees Mumbai jump to the top of the IPL table, while condemning the Knight Riders to their third consecutive defeat.
Mumbai captain Tendulkar unleashed a relentless assault, hitting 10 fours in his 71 in response to Kolkata's 155-3.
Promising
The 36-year-old got Mumbai's chase off to a promising start, making 61 from the first seven overs alongside opening partner Shikhar Dhawan.
Dhawan (23) was sent back by Murali Karthik but Tendulkar appeared unmoved by the loss, maintaining his side's momentum with Saurabh Tiwary.
The Knight Riders looked set to stage a fightback when skipper Saurav Ganguly caught a stunner off Ishant Sharma in the 14th over to see off Tiwary (30), then Sharma struck again in the 16th over with the removal of Kieron Pollard (seven).
But Tendulkar ploughed on regardless, remaining unbeaten to see his side home with Rajagopal Sathish (21 not out).
Kolkata had earlier made a slow but steady start as opening duo Ganguly and Chris Gayle added 71 in 11 overs after winning the toss.
Former India captain Ganguly took an aggressive approach early on in his innings, hitting three successive boundaries off Ryan McLaren in the third over.
But quick bowling changes made by Tendulkar restricted the openers, with Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo and Zaheer Khan keeping Mumbai in control.
First to fall was Ganguly (31), who made to hit Harbhajan out of the park in the 11th over but could not make bat connect with ball.
Dismissed
England middle-order batsman Owais Shah joined Gayle in the middle for a quick-innings of 23 before falling to Zaheer in the 20th over.
Gayle, making his first IPL outing this season, took a while to hit his stride but went on to deliver some eye-catching shots.
The West Indies batsman, who hit seven fours and two sixes for his 75 in 60 balls, was removed by Zaheer on the last delivery of the Kolkata innings.
