Highveld Lions BEAT Mumbai Indians

10 Sep 2010

Match Report: Mumbai Indians v Highveld Lions (Match 1)

September 10, Johannesburg: CLT20 2010 got under way with Mumbai Indians taking on local favourites Highveld Lions at the Wanderers Stadium. Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bowl first, a decision proposed by Shaun Pollock in his pitch discussion with Ravi Shastri.

What was surprising to see was Mumbai opting to open the bowling with medium pacer Ryan McLaren and the left-arm orthodox spin of Ali Murtuza instead of the usual suspects Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga. As a result, the Lions lost a couple of wickets early on but went on to make steady progress to bring up their first 50 runs in 7.2 overs. Opener Jonathan Vandiar batted at a brisk pace and put on a partnership of 43 for the third wicket with Vaughn van Jaarsveld. When van Jaarsveld fell with the score at 81, Vandiar, in the company of Neil McKenzie, changed gears. He was severe on the Mumbai bowlers and hit them to all corners of the Wanderers, a big six off Malinga over mid-wicket standing out in his 48-ball knock of 71.

Neil McKenzie, the most experienced of the Lions batsmen, took centre stage at the fall of Vandiar’s wicket and ensured that the Lions innings did not lose momentum at the end. A 30-ball cameo of 56 proved just why he is such a dangerous player. Thanks to his late flourish the Lions ended their innings with a most impressive score of 186 for the loss of five wickets. Zaheer Khan, coming back from injury, had a forgettable day having given away 45 runs while Lasith Malinga was the pick of the MI bolwers with figures of 3 for 33.

MI began their innings with the right intent. Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan mixed caution with aggression and added up a 50-run partnership in 6.5 overs. Dhawan, the young southpaw batted well for his 32 off 30 deliveries before falling for an ill advised reverse sweep off Aaron Phangiso. Ambati Rayudu was run-out shortly after but Tendulkar, accompanied by JP Duminy, upped the tempo. The pair were particularly severe on the left-arm spin of Phangiso, the bowler going for 26 runs in two overs.

Tendulkar, who was dropped by Alviro Petersen in the eighth over, scored 69 and his stay at the crease was a study in the art of T20 batting. He fell to Shane Burger against the run of play and his dismissal triggered a collapse with Duminy, Kieron Pollard, Rajagopal Sathish and Harbhajan Singh unable to guide Mumbai home. In the end the Lions bowlers held their nerve and bettered the formidable Mumbai side to delight South African fans and set the tournament off to an interesting start.

Brief Scores – Highveld Lions 186 for 5 (Jonathan Vandiar 71, Neil McKenzie 56*, Lasith Malinga 3-33) beat Mumbai Indians 177 for 6 (Sachin Tendulkar 69, Shikhar Dhawan 32, Shane Burger 2-33) by  9 runs