Birthday turns sad

 

.

Mumbai's 37-run win on Sachin's 38th birthday

Tendulkar, who landed in Hyderabad late Saturday night with wife Anjali and two kids, was confined to his room at the Grand Kakatiya hotel.

"He did not even have breakfast. No one was allowed to enter his room," a hotel manager told PTI.

Mumbai Indians gifted birthday boy and skipper Sachin Tendulkar a 37-run victory in an Indian Premier League match against Deccan Chargers on Sunday.

Middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma and fast bowler Lasith Malinga were the stars of Mumbai's fifth win in six matches of the Twenty20 tournament.

Sharma smashed three sixes and five fours in his 34-ball 56 not out and Malinga took 3-9 off four tight overs as Mumbai restricted Deccan to 135-8 after scoring 172-4 in Hyderabad.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara top-scored with 34 for Deccan, who suffered their fourth defeat in six matches. The Sri Lankan had been batting well before being bowled by compatriot Malinga.

Amit Mishra (25 not out) and opener Shikhar Dhawan (25) were the other main scorers for Deccan.

Mumbai were earlier tottering at 70-4 before Sharma led the recovery with a 102-run stand off just 65 balls for the unfinished fifth wicket with Australian Andrew Symonds, who scored an unbeaten 44 off 33 balls.

Sharma's three sixes came in the last over, bowled by Australian seamer Daniel Christian, as Mumbai plundered 40 runs in the last two overs. Symonds hit one six and four boundaries in his 33-ball innings.

Mumbai were comfortably placed at 70-1 following brisk knocks from openers Davy Jacobs (32) and Tendulkar (28) before losing three wickets at the same score, with leg-spinner Amit Mishra taking two wickets in one over.

Tendulkar, who turned 38 on Sunday, cracked four boundaries in his 24-ball knock before being caught at long-on by South African Dale Steyn while attempting a big shot off Mishra.

SCORES IN BRIEF
MUMBAI INDIANS: 172-4 in 20 overs (Sharma 56 not out, Symonds 44 not out, Jacobs 32, Tendulkar 28; Mishra 2-14)

DECCAN CHARGERS: 135-8 in 20 overs (Sangakkara 34, Mishra 25 not out, Dhawan 25, Christian 21; Malinga 3-9)

Result: Mumbai Indians won by 37 runs.

Man-of-the-match: Lasith Malinga

Big win for Mumbai

Big win for Mumbai

Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar plays the ball down the ground while Pune Warriors India wicketkeeper Tim Paine looks on during their IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Mumbai Indians rode on a clinical effort by their bowlers to hand a seven-wicket thrashing to Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.

Munaf Patel grabbed three wickets for eight runs while Ali Murtaza and Abu Nechim took two apiece to bowl out Pune for a paltry 118 in 17.2 overs before Mumbai overhauled the target off the last ball at the Wankhede Stadium.

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar scored a fine 35 off 39 balls and shared 74 runs for the second wicket with Ambati Rayudu (37) to set the platform for the chase.

Australian all-rounder Andre Symonds (16 not out) hit two fours in the 18th over and Rohit Sharma (20 not out) brought off the winning runs with a six to give Mumbai their third victory in four matches.

Pune suffered their second defeat from the same number of games.

IPL debutants Pune failed to last their 20 overs despite a 45-run knock by middle-order batsman Robin Uthappa.

Pune were rocked by early dismissals after skipper Yuvraj Singh won the toss and elected to bat, losing four wickets in eight balls with just 17 runs on board.

Nechim had opener Jesse Ryder of New Zealand caught by Tendulkar for 12 before Mithun Manhas edged one behind the wicket to Rayudu in the same over.

Patel picked two wickets in three balls in the next over, clipping the off-stump of Australian Tim Paine and inducing a fine edge off India's World Cup hero Yuvraj before he could even open his account.

Left-arm spinner Murtaza removed Mohnish Mishra as he tried to play a reckless shot over the long-on fence, Pune slumping to 52-5 in the ninth over.

Uthappa perished to a blinder of a catch by burly West Indian Kieron Pollard, who swooped down to pluck the ball from the air inches above the ground.

SCORES IN BRIEF

PUNE WARRIORS: 118 all out in 17.2 overs (Uthappa 45; Patel 3-8, Nechim 2-13, Murtaza 2-18, Malinga 2-28)

MUMBAI INDIANS: 124-3 in 20 overs (Rayudu 37, Tendulkar 35)

Result: Mumbai Indians won by seven wickets.

Man-of-the-match: Munaf Patel

Mohammad Ashraful

ASHRAFUL...118 not out

Mohammad Ashraful shone with both ball and bat to lead his Bangladesh A side to a six-wicket victory against South Africa A on Tuesday night at Buffalo Park in East London, in the first of five unofficial ODIs.

Only ten days ago South Africa had been battering Bangladesh in a four-day match, and in their home conditions were firm favourites to dominate the 50-over matches as well. However, the experienced Ashraful, who has alone played more one-day internationals than the entire South Africa A side combined, took 3 for 27 with his part-time spin to restrict South Africa to 226, and then scored an unbeaten century to help his side chase the target in 43.3 overs.

The target started looking steep for Bangladesh when they found themselves 40 for 3 in the 12th over. Ashraful, coming in at No 5, was watchful early on, taking 28 balls before striking his first boundary. He had reached 21 off 44 before he suddenly exploded with Bangladesh at 84 for 3 in the 23rd over. Ashraful hit the next six balls he faced for boundaries, and Bangladesh seized control of the chase. Ashraful continued to attack in bursts, with Junaed Siddiqui rotating the strike at the other end.

The two put together 149 before Siddiqui fell for 60, but by then the game was Bangladesh's to lose. Ashraful reached his century soon after Siddiqui's dismissal, and then ended the game with two consecutive boundaries in the 44th over, finishing 118 not out off 99 balls. It was a significant performance from a man who was once considered the future of Bangladesh cricket, but has now found himself relegated to the A team.

Earlier, Ashraful put South Africa A in to bat and after his frontline bowlers couldn't get an early wicket, it fell to him to come on in the 10th over and dismiss his opposing captain Jacques Rudolph. Ashraful struck twice more in a seven-over spell, leaving South Africa reeling at 52 for 3. Things got worse for the hosts as Farhaan Behardien was bowled by left-arm spinner Elias Sunny, Vaughn van Jaarsveld was run out, and Heino Kuhn was caught trying to drive 19-year-old off-spinner Nasir Hossain. At 73 for 6, South Africa looked like they would struggle to get 150.

There was a recovery though; Dean Elgar, fresh from his 169 not out in the rain-affected second four-day game between the two sides, put together a 121-run partnership with allrounder Vernon Philander. The two batted until the 49th over, when Elgar fell for 76. Philander then hit three consecutive sixes off Farhad Reza in the same over, and South Africa took another 11 runs off the 50th to finish with a fighting total of 226 for 8. Philander finished 79 not out.