Bangalore Royal Challengers beat Mumbai Indians in a closely fought tie : The Royal Challengers today registered their first victory beating the Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets in a close finish at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
The Mumbai Indians went in the game without their skipper Sachin Tendulkar, who was unfit, and Harbhajan Singh took charge of the team.
The Mumbai Indians batted first with Sanath Jayasuriya and Luke Ronchi opening the innings. Jayasuriya made a quickfire 29 off 16 balls blasting 5 fours and 1 six. He got himself run out by a brilliant throw from Zaheer Khan, gathering the ball on his follow through and shattering the ‘timber’ on the non striking end.
Another important contribution came from the bat of Robin Uthappa with a personal tally of 48 runs from 38 balls with 5 fours and a six. Shaun Pollock concluded the innings with a firing knock of 28 off just 12 deliveries including 3 fours and 2 sixes.
The Mumbai Indians thus managed to finish with a reasonably competitive total of 165/6 in 20 overs. Zaheer Khan and Balachandra Akhil took 2 wickwets each, while Praveen Kumar took 1 wicket for the Challengers.
In reply to the target set by the Mumbai Indians, the Bangalore Royal Challengers made a decent start with the captain leading from the front, scoring 32 off 33 balls and setting the momentum of the innings.
Each of the batsmen took up the responsibility and contributed their share in a well deserved victory. Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli with 23 runs a piece and Kallis with 25 were the important knocks.
However, it was the innings of Mark Boucher who remained unbeaten with 39 runs from 19 balls (2-six, 4-fours), which saw them home with a close win by 5 wickets.
Mark Boucher was rewarded by the Man of the Match award.
The DLF sixes award was shared between Boucher, Pollock and Taylor (2 sixes a piece)
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Dharmendrasinh Rathod, Age:41, India
