The Mumbai Indians have given perhaps the greatest indication yet that they might just be the team to beat in the third season of the IPL with a five-wicket victory over the Chennai Super Kings yesterday.
Skipper Sachin Tendulkar led by example for Mumbai with his third half century of the season, hitting 74 from 52 balls, with his man-of-the-match performance crucial in Mumbai’s successful chase of the 181-run target set by Chennai with an over to spare.
The Little Master was ably assisted by fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan (56 from 34 balls), while Kieron Pollard’s quick-fire 20 from nine deliveries towards the end of the innings and Dwayne Bravo’s cameo 14 sealed the win for the home team (his six and a four in consecutive balls bringing up the winning runs for Mumbai).
Chennai’s cause was not helped by some undisciplined bowling at the end of the Indians’ innings, with Lakshmipathy Balaji, who bowled what ended up as the final over, and Thissare Perera two of the main culprits. Post-match, Super Kings captain MS Dhoni admitted that his bowlers were lacking confidence and that “the pressure seems to be getting to them”.
The skipper will need to find a way to turn that around, because with Matthew Hayden – and his much publicised use of the Mongoose bat – Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath among the runs, not to mention his own batting talents, Dhoni has a batting line-up that could take his side a long way in this year’s competition, if they can back that up in the field.
After that loss, Chennai sits in fifth place on the IPL points table, just one spot out of the finals, while Mumbai’s win propelled Tendulkar’s side to the top of the table, with a 4-1 winning record after their opening five matches of the IPL season.
Based on these early matches, Mumbai is shaping as one of the frontrunners in the competition and after their most recent matches look to be just shading the Royal Challengers Bangalore for form.
Bangalore, currently in second place in the table, were on a four match winning streak before they hit a speed bump at home against the fourth placed Delhi Daredevils as Jacques Kallis finally proved himself human after a white-hot start to the season.
Still, the South Africa all-rounder heads a handy international contingent that also includes Proteas teammates Dale Steyn and Mark Boucher and England’s Eoin Morgan. Australia Twenty20 vice-captain Cameron White also joins the Banglalore squad now he’s finished his domestic season for Victoria.
Third place currently belongs to the Deccan Chargers, who won the competition last year and are 3-1 after their opening four matches. Wicketkeeper captain Adam Gilchrist has defied his lack of match practice so far this series in a cricketing format that was tailor made for players of his ilk. Former Australia teammate Andrew Symonds has shown he’s still got it too.
Deccan won’t want to trip up against the Rajasthan Royals today as they look to secure their place in the upper reaches of the points table and replicate last year’s result.
It’s been a different story for inaugural IPL winners Rajasthan so far this year, as Shane Warne’s team have been hobbled by season-ending injuries to two of their big international signings in Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarenhas. And they’re still waiting for Shane Watson to join their ranks for 2010 once Australia conclude their tour of New Zealand.
Rajasthan does enter today’s match against Deccan with two straight wins under their belt – the caveat being that both those wins came against the two teams currently ranked seventh and eighth on the points table.
Delhi is another team feeling the injury pinch, with South Africa paceman Wayne Parnell flying home with a groin injury. He won’t rejoin the Daredevils this season, while skipper Gautam Gambhir has been battling a hamstring injury. With three wins and three losses so far this season, Delhi’s season could go either way and injuries may prove a telling factor in their end result.
Kings XI Punjab are languishing at the bottom of the table, with one win from five starts – that one win coming against the inconsistent Chennai – and it doesn’t seem premature at this point to write their season off with 21 matches so far played in total.
Seventh placed Kolkata Knight Riders, however, may make a move up the table as this year’s competition progresses and some of their international players become available.
Chris Gayle has recently returned to the fold for Kolkata, after the West Indies skipper finished his international commitments against Zimbabwe. New Zealand’s Brendan McCullum, the man who holds the record for the highest innings total in the IPL, is still tied up with Test commitments against Australia. The question is whether his return to the Knight Riders will come too late for the side to give the top four places a shake in time for the semi-finals.
At the moment though, the IPL 2010 looks to be shaping as a race in two between Tendulkar’s Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Imagine the celebrations in the streets of Mumbai if the nation’s favourite son can convert this early form to competition victory for his team.
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