Lions devour MI in thrilling finish

Tendulkars brilliance goes in vain as Highveld pull off nine-run victory

Tendulkar starred in an 83-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan (32) to raise hopes of a successful run chase but Shane Burger’s two-wicket burst stole the show.
Put in to bat, the Lions rode on half-centuries from opener and man of the match Jonathan Vandiar (71) and middle-order batsman Neil McKenzie (56) to post a challenging 186 for five.

The locals then restricted the IPL III runners-up to 177 for six to complete a stunning win at the New Wanderers stadium here.

Tendulkar was at his fluent best early on and with Dhawan complementing him, the two sent the bowlers on a leather hunt. Tendulkar hit Robert Frylinck for couple of fours in his first two overs and then dismissed Aaron Phangiso for back-to-back fours in the eighth over.

Dhawan (32) also matched with Tendulkar and hit Ethan O’Reilly for a couple of boundaries before sending Burger out of the park in the fifth over.

He picked up his second six in the 10th over when he smashed Phangiso over wide long-on but an attempted reverse-sweep cost him his wicket. A brilliant piece of fielding by skipper Alviro Petersen ended Ambati Rayudu’s innings in the 11th over.

Tendulkar and JP Duminy forged a 42-run partnership but the former was clean bowled by Burger, who struck again 15 balls later to remove Kieron Pollard as the Mumbai Indians they lost the plot in the end.

Earlier, Vandiar cracked a 48-ball 71 to set the tone, while McKenzie blasted a whirlwind 30-ball 56 down the order.

Petersen and Vandiar started off on a positive note but a terrible mix-up helped Mumbai Indians taste earli success.

Vandiar stepped on the gas and smashed Harbhajan Singh for a four at point, before blasting Zaheer Khan for successive boundaries in the eighth over. The opener then hammered Duminy over long-on and sent R Sathish over extra cover to bring up his fifty.
McKenzie then cut loose towards the end as the Lions posted a total well beyond the reach of the faltering Indians.

SCORE BOARD

HIGHVELD LIONS: Jonathan Vandiar c Tendulkar b Malinga 71, Alviro Petersen (run out) 12, Richard Cameron c Zaheer b Murtaza 9, Vaughn van Jaarsveld c McLaren b Malinga 13, Neil McKenzie (not out) 56, Robert Frylinck b Malinga 1, Zander de Bruyn (not out) 12. Extras (LB-5, W-7) 12. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 186.
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-38, 3-81, 4-145, 5-147.
Bowling: Ryan McLaren 1-0-4-0, Ali Murtaza 4-0-28-1, Zaheer Khan 4-0-45-0, Lasith Malinga 4-0-33-3, Harbhajan Singh 3-0-22-0, Jean-Paul Duminy 1-0-13-0, Kieron Pollard 2-0-21-0, R Sathish 1-0-15-0.

MUMBAI INDIANS: Sachin Tendulkar b Burger 69, Shikhar Dhawan c Cameron b Phangiso 32, Ambati Rayudu (run out) 3, Jean-Paul Duminy c Petersen b de Bruyn 30, Kieron Pollard b Burger 19, R Sathish (run out) 10, Harbhajan Singh (not out) 5, Ryan McLaren (not out) 1. Extras (LB-4, W-4) 8. Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 177.
Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-89, 3-131, 4-156, 5-163, 6-173.
Bowling: Robert Frylinck 4-0-32-0, Ethan O'Reilly 4-0-25-0, Shane Burger 4-0-33-2, Aaron Phangiso 2-0-26-1, Richard Cameron 3-0-29-0, Zander de Bruyn 3-0-28-1.