TheSportsCampus

Friday the 20th of May 2011 will be remembered for many things in the cricketing crazy country of India. Short term memory will recall it as the day Mumbai Indians were bludgeoned into submission by a rampaging Shane Watson, who scored an unbeaten 89 off just 47 balls to guide his team to victory, shortly after an excellent spell in which he took 3-19. The Rajasthan Royals dished out a walloping to the once mighty Mumbai Indians, condemning them to a 10 wicket defeat that has put their once taken for granted play-off spot in utter peril. However, for those who have been privileged to watch cricket over the last two decades, it will be remembered in the history books forever as the last time Shane Warne rolled up his sleeves to bowl his magical leg breaks that made this man a true legend.

The facts of the game itself were far simpler, the Rajasthan Royals finally showed the fans just how good they can be when on song as they restricted Mumbai to just 133 runs in their 20 overs. Rohit Sharma played well for his 58 but no one supported him in the cause. Sharma will also have a footnote in the Warne chapter of greatness as the last man the legend dismissed. The Royals chased down the paltry total with almost 7 overs to spare as Watson and Rahul Dravid put on a 134 run opening wicket partnership.

The Mumbai Indians were under pressure coming into this game having lost two consecutive matches and with Kings XI knocking on their door with some good wins, they needed to end all speculations with a win against the Rajasthan Royals. The Royals on the other hand had nothing to lose and could do Adam Gilchrist a huge favor by beating Mumbai in their own backyard.

The home captain, Sachin, won the toss and decided to bat first as he expected the pitch to crumble with time. Warne didn't mind bowling first and looked forward to bowling to his greatest ever rival. Aiden Blizzard was left out of the Mumbai line-up with Kiwi James Franklin getting called back up into the side. Rajasthan made plenty of changes once again, the most noteworthy of which were Johan Botha and Ross Taylor returning to the playing eleven with Jacob Oram and Shaun Tait sitting out.

Sachin Tendulkar had a reprive first ball when the umpire turned down a straight-forward leg-before decision as Ankeet Chavan, a left arm spinner, was denied a memorable scalp. Tirumalsetti Suman, given a chance to open the batting, fell for 5 to Shane Watson in the second over. Mumbai were in further trouble when Ambati Rayadu departed in Watson's next over after scoring just 2. Boundaries were hard to come by and runs were coming in singles and twos. Mumbai managed just 26 runs, one of the lowest scores in the powerplay, but had plenty to be positive about with Sachin and Rohit Sharma looking solid.

Both batsmen started playing some strokes as they spent time in the middle. The 50 came up in the 9th over and Mumbai were picking up their run-rate very quickly. Warne was welcomed with an excellent shot from Sharma, but with just 55 runs at the half-way stage, Mumbai had to get a move on to post a competitive total. Their hopes suffered a setback when Sachin bit the dust after scoring 31 off 35 balls, Amit Singh the delighted wicket taker.

Kieron Pollard was promoted up the order as Mumbai needed some quick runs to put some pressure on the Royals. Sharma made his move too after Tendulkar's dismissal and hit Amit Singh for a boundary and a six in
the same over. Rohit Sharma reached his 50 off just 36 balls and looked the only one who had found the answers to Rajasthan's bowling attack.

The 100 mark was breached in the 17th over and the crowd was desperate to see Pollard hit a few out of the park. Pollard was aided by Ross Taylor who dropped a tough chance. That was all that he needed as he followed it with two bullet-like boundaries. But Watson got Rajasthan Pollard's prized wicket when he was on 20 and that helped them to restrict the number of boundaries to come. A tight penultimate over from Botha was followed by Warne's last over in the IPL. After Warne missed getting Sharma's wicket off the first ball as Ashok Menaria dropped a sitter, he got him stumped with 2 balls to go. Just 8 runs in the last over meant Mumbai managed only 133 runs and would have to bowl out of their skins to restrict the Royals.

Watson began the Rajasthan chase in style, clipping one off his pads as he opened his account with a boundary. Harbhajan Singh was handed the ball from the other end but Watson set him sailing into the crowds twice in that over. Lasith Malinga was brought on to bowl but even he couldn't tame Watson as he smashed him past the ropes twice. Rahul Dravid played his role to perfection, giving the strike to Watson who was hitting the ball very well. Malinga had lost it after he was hit for those boundaries and Watson kept smashing every bouncer thrown at him away to the boundary. A 14 run over from Malinga to end the powerplay took Rajasthan past 50 and Watson had scored 45 of those runs. The required rate had fallen below 6 and the openers had to just keep their calm from then on.

Watson reached his half-century off just 30 balls and had done half the job for his team but needed to continue and take his side to a win. The Mumbai players had lost all confidence and even Pollard, who is their best fielder, was letting the ball go through his hands. Watson continued to dominate as he then struck Harbhajan for 3 consecutive boundaries. If Dravid was scoring a run, Watson was scoring 10 against it as there came a juncture when Watson had scored 70 while Dravid had just 7. But Dravid joined the action after that smashing away his first boundary off Pollard to get to double figures. Malinga's bouncers were still dealt with ease by Watson as he hit his 5th six by the half-way stage. Dravid flicked the score onto 100 with a boundary.

Dravid was finishing the game very quickly and was scoring his share of the runs. Malinga was having the worst day ever as Watson hit him out of the park yet again. Dravid finished the match with another boundary as Rajasthan won with 6.5 overs remaining. Watson was magnificent scoring an unbeaten 89 off just 47 balls. Dravid too played an excellent hand, getting 43 off just 32 balls.

The ball is now firmly in the court of the Kings XI Punjab, who with a win against the Deccan Charges, can turn Mumbai's final game against Kolkata at the Eden Gardens on Sunday into a knock-out tie. However, a loss tomorrow for Punjab and both Kolkata and Mumbai go through to the final four. Both teams can also still finish in the top 2, though that would also be contingent on Chennai doing them a favour.

Mini Scorecard:

Mumbai Indians 133/5 in 20 overs (6.65 runs per over)
R Sharma 58(47) S Watson 3-19
S Tendulkar 31(35) A Singh 1-20

Rajasthan Royals 134/0 in 13.1 overs (10.17 runs per over)
S Watson 89*(47) J Franklin 0-4
R Dravid 43*(32) K Pollard 0-19

File Photograph Copyright: Chris Brown