After lining up on opposite sides in the memorable World Cup final earlier this month,Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, playing as a combined unit for Mumbai Indians, pose a major threat for a struggling Kochi Tuskers Kerala in an IPL match in Mumbai on Friday.
Tendulkar and Malinga have been in the forefront of Mumbai Indians' consecutive easy away wins over strong rivals Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the duo would be eyeing to carry on their impressive showing against debutante Kochi, who are yet to register a win in the event.
Tendulkar had been in sublime form right through the World Cup and the Indian icon has carried on his supreme touch in the ongoing Indian Premier League, which has resulted in two comfortable wins for Mumbai Indians in the tournament so far.
Tendulkar has played the anchoring role brilliantly at the top of the order, and used his vast knowledge and experience to accumulate runs later on to come up with unbeaten knocks of 48 and 55.Mumbai Indians top-order, in particular Ambati Rayudu who played a very good innings of 63 not out against Royal Challengers Bangalore, have given Tendulkar very good support.
The bowlers, led by the unique-action Malinga, have also risen to the occasion in brilliant style to make it a superb all-round display for Mumbai Indians, who have won both their matches with plenty of wickets in hand. Praise was also reserved for Malinga, who has become an integral part of the franchise after the owners decided to retain him and West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard for IPL IV.
"When we started to bowl, we had hoped the target to be a maximum of 140. Malinga again provided us a great start. We also fielded well and it was another superb team effort. The idea was to bowl as straight as possible and we did just that," Tendulkar had said after the win over Bangalore.
On the other hand, Kochi, in their inaugural season, have had a troubled beginning.
Against Pune, Kochi were in is serious trouble at 24 for four but an excellent partnership of 88 in 64 balls between Ravindra Jadeja and Brad Hodge saved the day for the Mahela Jayawardene-led side.Kochi skipper Jayawardene too has been a disappointment as he has not found even a small per cent of the touch that helped him make a fabulous century for Sri Lanka at the same Wankhede Stadium less than a fortnight ago.
Misfiring opener Brendon McCullum and his partner VVS Laxman will also have to fire in unison up the order on Friday at the floodlit Wankhede Stadium.If that was not enough, retired Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan too has been struggling and was taken apart by a little-known domestic cricketer, Mohnish Mishra in the end overs on Wednesday.
And Jayawardene was candid enough to admit that the team might look at other options in the bowling attack for future matches."(Changing Murali) It depends on the opposition. We could use different combinations. We are trying to see what the best eleven could be with Steven (Smith of Australia) coming in (after the ODI series in Bangladesh).
Tendulkar had been in sublime form right through the World Cup and the Indian icon has carried on his supreme touch in the ongoing Indian Premier League, which has resulted in two comfortable wins for Mumbai Indians in the tournament so far.
Tendulkar has played the anchoring role brilliantly at the top of the order, and used his vast knowledge and experience to accumulate runs later on to come up with unbeaten knocks of 48 and 55.Mumbai Indians top-order, in particular Ambati Rayudu who played a very good innings of 63 not out against Royal Challengers Bangalore, have given Tendulkar very good support.
The bowlers, led by the unique-action Malinga, have also risen to the occasion in brilliant style to make it a superb all-round display for Mumbai Indians, who have won both their matches with plenty of wickets in hand. Praise was also reserved for Malinga, who has become an integral part of the franchise after the owners decided to retain him and West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard for IPL IV.
"When we started to bowl, we had hoped the target to be a maximum of 140. Malinga again provided us a great start. We also fielded well and it was another superb team effort. The idea was to bowl as straight as possible and we did just that," Tendulkar had said after the win over Bangalore.
On the other hand, Kochi, in their inaugural season, have had a troubled beginning.
Against Pune, Kochi were in is serious trouble at 24 for four but an excellent partnership of 88 in 64 balls between Ravindra Jadeja and Brad Hodge saved the day for the Mahela Jayawardene-led side.Kochi skipper Jayawardene too has been a disappointment as he has not found even a small per cent of the touch that helped him make a fabulous century for Sri Lanka at the same Wankhede Stadium less than a fortnight ago.
Misfiring opener Brendon McCullum and his partner VVS Laxman will also have to fire in unison up the order on Friday at the floodlit Wankhede Stadium.If that was not enough, retired Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan too has been struggling and was taken apart by a little-known domestic cricketer, Mohnish Mishra in the end overs on Wednesday.
And Jayawardene was candid enough to admit that the team might look at other options in the bowling attack for future matches."(Changing Murali) It depends on the opposition. We could use different combinations. We are trying to see what the best eleven could be with Steven (Smith of Australia) coming in (after the ODI series in Bangladesh).
No comments:
Post a Comment