Mumbai's dominance at home continues

Mumbai, May 16: Mumbai Indians once again proved their invincibility at home as they successfully defended their impeccable home record with a comfortable 14-run win over Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday.

Defending a total of 166 for eight, Mumbai made early inroads which proved decisive in the end as the Royals were restricted to 152 for seven. It was the last game for MI at the ‘Fort Wankhede’ which hasn’t been breached by any team this season.

The win took Mumbai to 22 points from 15 games but they pipped CSK to the top of the table by virtue of better run-rate.

As far as Royals are concerned, they are in the Play-Offs but might have just lost a golden opportunity to get two shots in the knock-outs by finishing among the top-two.

Stuart Binny (37 n.o.) and Brad Hodge (39, 7x4) added 56 runs for the seventh wicket after they were reduced to 58 for five within the first 10 overs.

23 runs off a final over from Lasith Malinga was a Herculean task and the script unfolded as the home team would have expected. Chasing a target of 167, Royals got to the worst possible start as they lost four wickets in the first five overs with only 28 on the board.

While Rahul Dravid (4) was very unhappy when he was adjudged caught behind off a short pitched delivery from Mitchell Johnson which he tried to pull. The TV replays were inconclusive.

James Faulkner (11) and Ajinkya Rahane (4) played poor shots to back of the length deliveries from Dhawal Kulkarni while Sanju Samson was done in by pace and bounce from Johnson.

Shane Watson (19), who had some verbal exchanges with Kieron Pollard pulled Malinga for a couple of sixes but played a rank bad shot off a Pragyan Ojha delivery. It was Pollard who caught Watson in the deep and then gave him a ‘Calypso style’ send-off.

At 58 for five, the onus was on Binny to resurrect the innings. Along with Dishant Yagnik (10), Binny added 30 runs before the former was cleaned up by Harbhajan Singh.

Veteran Hodge got four boundaries off Ojha in the 16th over to bring down the equation but that wasn’t enough in the end.

Earlier, young glovesman Aditya Tare hit an attacking half-century as Mumbai scored 166 for eight.

Tare, who replaced an injured Sachin Tendulkar, paid back for the faith showed in him by the team management, with a 37-ball-59 that was studded with eight boundaries and a six.

Warriors put an end to Kolkata's faint chances

Ranchi, May 16: Pune Warriors snapped their nine-match losing streak and knocked Kolkata Knight Riders out of the Indian Premier League with a thrilling seven-run win, here on Wednesday.

Manish Pandey (66), skipper Aaron Finch (48) and Yuvraj Singh (30) guided Pune to a competitive 170/4 after being asked to bat.

Yusuf Pathan (72) cracked his first IPL half-century in three years and almost steered KKR home with splendid hitting but he got out in a bizarre fashion towards the end of the chase as he became the first batsman in IPL history to be given out for obstructing the field.

After managing to negotiate a yorker from Wayne Parnell, Pathan attempted a single. As Pathan ran, the bowler too tried to get close to the ball but Pathan pushed the ball with his foot, causing obstruction in the field.

The matter was refereed to third umpire and he was declared out. His dismissal in the 18th over was the turning point of the game as KKR did not have the batsmen to score the required 23 runs from 13 balls after that.

Pune restricted Kolkata to 163 for seven to complete their third win from 15 matches.

KKR’s chase was far from ideal as they lost the top three batsmen, including skipper Gautam Gambhir, inside five overs to be struggling at 30 for three.

Parnell trapped Manvinder Bisla (1) in the second over and then castled Jacques Kallis (1) in his next over.

Ishwar Pandey saw the back of the rival skipper when Gambhir ballooned one up high in the air while attempting a big shot and the top edge landed in the hands of Yuvraj Singh.

Pathan and Ryan Ten Doeschate (42 off 30) repaired the innings with a 98-run stand for the fourth wicket that put them on the way to win.

However, Pune struck twice in four balls to bring themselves back in the match. Doeschate’s run out ended his partnership with Yusuf and at that time KKR needed 44 off the last four overs.

From 30 for three in five overs, Pathan brought his side so close to the win but his strange dismissal nullified all the good work he did with the bat.

Earlier, Pandey, who has been struggling for form this season, faced 47 balls in his knock while Yuvraj took 20 balls for his 30 to help Pune raise a challenging total.

The duo shared a 65 runs for the third wicket in 40 balls. Pandey hit eight fours and a six before being run out in the final over. Yuvraj too was dismissed on the last ball after hitting three big sixes in his knock.

Pune got off to a steady start with openers Finch and Uthappa looking in good touch.

Uthappa hit Lakshmipathy Balaji for two sixes in the third over to complete his 400 runs in this edition of the IPL.

However, Uthappa’s innings did not last long as he was dismissed by Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake for 25 off 21 deliveries. The duo put on a 41-run opening stand.

Finch, who shared 56 runs with Pandey for the second wicket, started to attack after nine overs when he hit Kallis for two consecutive sixes. Pune were 57 for one at that time.

Just when Finch seemed to have settled down to set up a platform for a big total, Balaji removed him for the individual score of 48 in 32 balls. His knock was laced with two fours and three sixes. Yuvraj looked sluggish at the start as he took six balls to get off the mark while Pandey was the aggressor.

For Knight Riders, Balaji, Senanayake and Kallis picked up a wicket each.