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Ahmedabad - A century opening stand between Michael Hussey and Lendl Simmons laid the platform for a resounding 25-run victory for the Mumbai Indians against the Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.
The supersport.com website reports that the Australian and the Trinidadian added 120 together in 14.3 overs leading to an imposing total of 178 for three to which the Royals could respond with only 153 for eight in the face of the fine spin bowling led by Harbhajan Singh.
Royals opener Karun Nair fought a lone battle during the run chase reaching 48 from a total of 75 before holing out in the deep against Harbhajan as the innings crashed to 75 for seven. Bizarrely, the Royals kept renown finisher Brad Hodge back until No 8 when the game was all but lost.
Hodge (40 from 30 balls) and fellow Aussie James Faulkner (31* from 21) added a semblance of respectability to the final total but the tactics were mystifying.
Harbhajan claimed 2-13 in his four overs while left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with 2-30 and 20-year-old legspinner Shreyas Gopal took 2-25.
Veteran Australian Hussey has endured a lean tournament for Mumbai after six seasons with Chennai but he found his form with three fours and a pair of sixes in an innings of 56 from 39 balls, outscoring his West Indian partner in a stand of 120 in 14.3 overs.
Simmons made 62 from 51 deliveries with six fours and two sixes before holing out to long on off the bowling of Ankit Sharma. Hussey departed in identical fashion, the fielder on both occasions with well judged catches was Kevon Cooper.
Another West Indian, Kieron Pollard, was promoted up the order to take advantage of the opening platform but was unable to take advantage with a stuttering, awkward 14 not out from 12 balls – including a six.
Instead it fell to Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma to provide the fireworks with a spectacular 40 from only 19 deliveries, including 17 from the first five deliveries of the final over bowled by James Faulkner before he was run out by the bowler off the final ball of the innings.
Ankit was the pick of the Royals attack with 2-23 from his four overs although new-ball partner Dhawal Kulkarni was similarly economical with just 27 runs coming from his four.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: UBT Chand, KK Nair, SR Watson (captain), SV Samson (wicketkeeper), STR Binny, KK Cooper, BJ Hodge, Ankit Sharma, JP Faulkner, R Bhatia, DS Kulkarni
Mumbai Indians: LMP Simmons, MEK Hussey, AT Rayudu, RG Sharma (capt), KA Pollard, AP Tare (wk), Harbhajan Singh, JJ Bumrah, K Santokie, PP Ojha, S Gopal.
The supersport.com website reports that the Australian and the Trinidadian added 120 together in 14.3 overs leading to an imposing total of 178 for three to which the Royals could respond with only 153 for eight in the face of the fine spin bowling led by Harbhajan Singh.
Royals opener Karun Nair fought a lone battle during the run chase reaching 48 from a total of 75 before holing out in the deep against Harbhajan as the innings crashed to 75 for seven. Bizarrely, the Royals kept renown finisher Brad Hodge back until No 8 when the game was all but lost.
Hodge (40 from 30 balls) and fellow Aussie James Faulkner (31* from 21) added a semblance of respectability to the final total but the tactics were mystifying.
Harbhajan claimed 2-13 in his four overs while left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with 2-30 and 20-year-old legspinner Shreyas Gopal took 2-25.
Veteran Australian Hussey has endured a lean tournament for Mumbai after six seasons with Chennai but he found his form with three fours and a pair of sixes in an innings of 56 from 39 balls, outscoring his West Indian partner in a stand of 120 in 14.3 overs.
Simmons made 62 from 51 deliveries with six fours and two sixes before holing out to long on off the bowling of Ankit Sharma. Hussey departed in identical fashion, the fielder on both occasions with well judged catches was Kevon Cooper.
Another West Indian, Kieron Pollard, was promoted up the order to take advantage of the opening platform but was unable to take advantage with a stuttering, awkward 14 not out from 12 balls – including a six.
Instead it fell to Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma to provide the fireworks with a spectacular 40 from only 19 deliveries, including 17 from the first five deliveries of the final over bowled by James Faulkner before he was run out by the bowler off the final ball of the innings.
Ankit was the pick of the Royals attack with 2-23 from his four overs although new-ball partner Dhawal Kulkarni was similarly economical with just 27 runs coming from his four.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: UBT Chand, KK Nair, SR Watson (captain), SV Samson (wicketkeeper), STR Binny, KK Cooper, BJ Hodge, Ankit Sharma, JP Faulkner, R Bhatia, DS Kulkarni
Mumbai Indians: LMP Simmons, MEK Hussey, AT Rayudu, RG Sharma (capt), KA Pollard, AP Tare (wk), Harbhajan Singh, JJ Bumrah, K Santokie, PP Ojha, S Gopal.
