Sachin Tendulkar

Hyderabad: Sachin Tendulkar was gifted a victory today against Deccan Chargers on his Birthday. Deccan Chargers hosted the in-form Mumbai Indian team, an important encounter for the Chargers. The struggling Chargers won their last game, and would have wanted to carry on the good form. But their party was spoiled by Mumbai Indians, as the Chargers were handed their 4^th defeat by 37 runs.

Mumbai Indians won their previous two encounters and looked the favorites to win this encounter. Deccan on the other hand just won 2 games out of the 5 played, before this match. Deccan struggling with poor form was outplayed by the strong Mumbai side.

Deccan won the toss and elected to bowl first. Sachin, the birthday boy and Jacobs started off the proceedings. Jacobs went over the bowling attack right from the start, scoring a quick fire 32 of just 20 deliveries before falling to Ishant Sharma. Sachin was looking in fine touch until we was caught in the mid off region by Steyn of Mishra’s bowling for 28 runs. Mumbai were 70-2 then in the 8^th over. They looked good as the run rate was healthy. In form Rayudu could not make an impact as he too perished to Mishra in the same over for just 7. Pollard stepped in and finally got to bat after long. But his innings lasted only for a delivery as he was dismissed by Pragyan Ojha in the 9^th over. From 70-1, Mumbai slipped away to 70-4. They lost 3 wickets for no runs.

Deccan was right back in the game and hoped to restrict the Mumbai side for a moderate total. Rohit Sharma and Symonds were present at the crease. Both were outstanding in their last game. The pair continued their good form from last game as they got the better of the bowling attack, helping Mumbai to reach a very healthy score of 172-4 in their 20 overs. Sharma scored 56 of just 34 deliveries and Symonds scoring 44 of 33 deliveries.

The Chargers must have felt that they can chase the target, as their batting line up look strong and promising. Dhawan and Sohail started the innings. The charges got off to a worse start, losing Sohail in the early stage of the innings for 5. Malinga, as usual with his dangerous Yorkers, cleaned up Dhawan, as the stumps went crumbling. Cameron White, who is famous for his explosive batting nature, was run out by Malinga. Malinga was all over, as he ripped off the Deccan batting attack, taking 3 wickets by giving just 9 runs in his 4 overs. Sangakkara was at the creased for a while before Malinga cleaned him up by another beauty. Sangakkara top scored for Deccan, scoring 34. The game was lost and done, as wickets kept trembling at regular intervals. Malinga was declared the Man of the match for his 3 wickets for 9 runs. The Deccan managed to score 135 in their 20 overs, falling short of 37 runs of the total.

This win means, Mumbai have won their previous 3 encounters in a row and top the table with 4 points clear. On the other hand, this is the 4^th defeat for the Chargers as they move down to table in the 8^th position. The chargers now really have to come up with something special, if they have to stand a chance for qualifying for the Semi- final stage. It is a tough task ahead for Chargers. The team needs to re-organize and strategize a lot, before going in for their next game.

Tags: Birthday Gift, Cricket, DC, Deccan Chargers, Indian Premier League, IPL, IPL 2011, IPL 4, MI, Mumbai Indians, Sachin Tendulkar