Sachin's night out at the CCI

Published>Tue, Mar 23 10 10:54 AM

Not too long ago, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly formed one of the most formidable opening partnerships in limited overs cricket, tearing bowling attacks apart. Now leading two so-far under-performing outfits in the IPL, their fortunes seem to be heading in opposite directions.

With Tendulkar leading from the front, the Mumbai Indians have looked a much more motivated outfit in IPL III. For Ganguly and Kolkata Knight Riders though, the horrific demons from the first two editions seem to be rapidly returning to haunt them all over again after an encouraging start.

Tendulkar's 21st year in international cricket has been filled with a number of memorable moments already. And the 36-year-old Mumbai captain added another one at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday night, leading his team to a convincing seven-wicket victory with an unbeaten 48-ball 71. Ganguly, meanwhile, suffered a desperate and uncomfortable stay at the crease and his only real moment of glory came in rather astonishing fashion on the field - as he leapt back athletically in the cover region and hung on to a one-handed catch to get rid off Sourabh Tiwary.

Tendulkar was as energetic as ever as captain after Kolkata won the toss and elected to bat - shuffling his bowlers around and running up to them at least thrice an over. His bowlers responded in kind and kept the openers in check.

Ganguly did get a couple of boundaries away early on but struggled to pierce even the infield for a better part of his innings before succumbing for a laborious 34-ball 31.

There is almost no scenario on a cricketing field that seems to fluster or hurry Chris Gayle. And he didn't seem hurried on Monday either - which wasn't such a good thing for his team. The West Indian, playing his first match of the event, did bat the entire duration of the Kolkata innings before being dismissed off the last ball, but scored a not-too-quick 60-ball 75 which managed to take the Knight Riders past 150.

Incidentally, it was at the CCI in 2006 that the laidback West Indian captain showed the nasty side of his character - probably the only time during his career - while getting into a confrontation with a couple of Australian batsmen.

The Mumbai chase began on a high-octane level as Tendulkar hit Ishant Sharma for three fours in an over on two occasions. And after the first five overs, the match seemed to be heading towards an early finish. Murali Kartik put the brakes in the middle, but when the chance did arrive with Tendulkar getting a leading edge, there was almost a sense of d?j? vu as the ball went right through Kartik's hands at the bowler's end.

The door seemed to be shut on Kolkata's chances with that dropped chance, as Tendulkar in the company of Tiwary and Rajagopal Sathish finished the game with nine balls to spare.

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