Kochi Tuskers Kerala spoil Tendulkar’s party

Kochi's Brendon Mccullum and Mahela Jayawardene slam their way to stunning win as Mumbai Indians' party is busted at centurion Sachin Tendulkar's Wankhede stadium

Kochi Tuskers Kerala spoil Tendulkar's party

Kochi's Brendon Mccullum and Mahela Jayawardene slam their way to stunning win as Mumbai Indians' party is busted at centurion Sachin Tendulkar's Wankhede stadium

Sachin Tendulkar's maiden T20 ton went in vain as Kochi Tuskers Kerala upstaged fancied Mumbai Indians on their home ground by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League yesterday.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala skipper Mahela Jayawardene slams one during
his 36-ball 56

Kochi Tuskers Kerala's opening batsman Brendon McCullum pulls one
during his quickfire knock of 81 off just 60 balls. Kochin won by eight
wickets. inset: Sachin Tendulkar. Pics/ Suresh KK,u00a0AFP

Chasing a daunting target of 183, the Tuskers relied on a blistering opening stand of 128 runs between captain Mahela Jayawardene and New Zealander Brendon McCullum to cruise home with six balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium. Jayawardene made an attacking yet stylish 56 from 36 balls while McCullum took the Mumbai bowlers to the cleaners with a hurricane 60-ball 81.

The Kochi team still needed 27 off 17 balls when Lasith Malinga consumed McCullum and bowled a tidy 18th over. But Ravindra Jadeja (25 not out) came to the rescue as he smashed left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza for 20 runs in the next over to help the IPL debutants pull off a stunning victory.

Kieron Pollard made a brilliant stop at the long-on boundary when leaped to negate a certain six for Jadeja off Murtaza. But the left-handed batsman followed it up with two mighty sixes in the stands to seal the deal for the visitors.

Earlier, Tendulkar hit a brilliant 100 not out from just 66 balls as the hosts raced to 182 for two. The maestro had failed to get his 100th international ton in the World Cup final at the same venue just over a fortnight ago. But he compensated for that by cracking three sixes and eight fours in this blistering knock.
Young Ambati Rayudu hit a quickfire 53 in 33 balls and featured in a 116-run partnership for the second wicket with Tendulkar.

Scoreboard
Mumbai Indians
Davy Jacobs b Gomez 12, Sachin Tendulkar not out 100
Ambati Rayudu run out (Vinay Kumar) 53
Kieron Pollard not out 0
Extras: (Lb11, W6) 17.
Total: (for two wickets in 20 overs) 182.
Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-177. Bowling:
RP Singh 4-0-15-0
V Kumar 4-0-48-0
Perera 4-0-38-0
Gomez 3-0-29-1
Jadeja 4-0-29-0
Powar 1-0-12-0.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala
Brendon McCullum b Malinga 81
Mahela Jayawardene b Malinga 56
Ravindra Jadeja not out 25
Brad Hodge not out 11.
Extras (Lb3, W8) 11.
Total: (for two wickets in 19 overs) 184
Fall of wickets: 1-128, 2-156.
Bowling:
Malinga 4-0-42-2
Patel 3-0-15-0
Murtaza 4-0-37-0
Pollard 3-0-43-0
H Singh 4-0-33-0
Sathish 1-0-11-0