MUMBAI WINS BATTLE ROYALE
SPORTS
Afternoon Despatch & Courier www.afternoondc.in
MUMBAI | MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013
Double bonus for Mumbai Indians as they lift the Champions League by beating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the finals
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EW DELHI: Mumbai Indians clinched the Champions League Twenty20 title for the second time after defeating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the final here. Harbhajan Singh was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets for 32 runs picking crucial wickets to dislodge Rajasthan Royals who were cruising at one stage with Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson forging a sound partnership for the second wicket of 109 runs. However, once both of the batsmen fell out, it opened the floodgates as the Mumbai team penetrated through their defences of Rajasthan as they were trying to up the ante with the asking rate was going beyond the roof. The Royals lost eight wickets for 32 runs, thereby resting any chances for a possible comeback. Earlier, Mumbai Indians batsmen fired in unison to post a massive 202 for six against a hapless Rajasthan Royals in the final of the Champions League Twenty20 here. After a solid start by opener Dwayne Smith (44) and a valuable 33 off 14 balls by skipper Rohit Sharma in the middle, Glenn Maxwell's 14-ball 37 cameo in the end took the IPL champions past 200-run mark. This is the highest total for the Mumbai Indians, who scored 142 runs in their last 10 overs today, in the Champions League Twenty20. It was a team effort with Maxwell adding 41 runs for the sixth wicket with Dinesh Kartik (15 not out) in 2.2 overs towards the fag end. For the Royals, Pravin Tambe was the only impressive bowler with figures of 4-0-19-2. Put in to bat by Rajasthan Royals, the in-form opener Smith gave Mumbai Indians a perfect start, hitting a six over deep mid-wicket in the third ball of the very first over to set the tone. The other opener, Tendulkar, who
Mumbai Indians' Sachin Tendulkar celebrate with Harbhajan Singh after dismissal of Rajasthan Royals batsman Sanju Samson during the CLT20 final match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. Harbhajan took four wickets for 32 runs. is playing his final Twenty20 match, took an over to get settled down before he opened up. He started off with a four in James Faulkner's over, a perfectly timed cover drive. The 40-year-old right handed batsman then followed it up with two successive boundaries in the first two deliveries off Shane Watson's over before the ball crashed into his off-stump to cut short his
innings that saw him score a 13-ball 15, including three hits to the fence. Even as the senior batsman walked back into the pavilion in coloured cloths for one last time, his teammates and the full house crowd at the Feroze Shah Kotla here gave him a standing ovation. Tendulkar's departure slowed down the rhythm a bit with Ambati Rayudu adopting a cautious ap-
proach, relying mostly on singles and twos. Despite that Mumbai Indians managed to bring up their fifty in 6.5 overs, maintaining a decent run rate. Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 202/6 in 20 overs [Dwayne Smith 44, Glenn Maxwell 37] beat Rajasthan Royals 169 all out 18.5 overs [Ajinkya Rahane 65, Sanju Samson 60, Harbhajan Singh 4/32] by 33 runs.
I have been inspired by Tendulkar's exploits: Dravid N
EW DELHI: Playing for one last time together in a cricket match, albeit for different teams in the Champions League Twenty20 summit clash here, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid heaped encomiums on each other with the latter saying that his long time former India team-mate had inspired him to strive for excellence in the game. Tendulkar's final T20 act and Dravid's last hurrah in competitive cricket were the talking points at the Feroze Shah Kotla here as the two legends got together though in the colours of Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. The two legendary batsmen had announced that this would be their final Twenty20 season. "Even though Tendulkar is of my age or two months younger to me, he is seven years senior to me as an international cricketer. When I came into the Indian team, in my third Test, Tendulkar was India captain. He was someone you would look upto as a young cricketer growing up. You
saw this young kid do amazing things across the world. It was sort of inspiration for all of us playing first-class
cricket," Dravid said before the start of the CLT20 finale. "It was like, look if this guy can do
Mumbai Indians player Sachin Tendulkar and Rajasthan Royal’s captain Rahul Dravid shake hands during the CLT20 final against in New Delhi on Sunday.
it, we can also try to do it. The opportunity to try and share a dressing room with him, that was a huge motivation. For me to be on that England trip for the first time and share a dressing with him was a huge trip," said Dravid. The 40-year-old Dravid had retired from international cricket at the beginning of 2012 while Tendulkar, who retired from One-Day International cricket last December, is in the twilight of his Test career. Together they have scored close to 92,000 runs in all formats of the game. Tendulkar, who is also 40, returned the compliments, by describing Dravid as the "master technician". "Absolutely, he is a master technician. Any day in my team, he will be number three, because there were so many innings in which he batted brilliantly. When the rest of the guys found it difficult, he was comfortable. He loved challenges and I knew we could bank on Rahul at the times of difficulty."
29 Salgaocar beat Mohammedan Sporting
MAPUSA: Salgaocar FC kept their winning momentum going as they scored a convincing 3-0 win over Mohammedan Sporting to notch up their second win in the Airtel I-League at the Duler Stadium here. Salgaocar, who led 1-0 at half time, scored through Darryl Duffy (43rd), Claude Gnakpa (48th) and Augustin Fernandes (63rd). The win takes Salgaocar's tally to six points from two matches. Durand Cup Champions, Mohammedan Sporting, who suffered their second defeat, are yet to open their account. Salgaocar, who had a dream start beating defending champions Churchill Brothers, looked determined to keep the winning momentum going as they did most of the attacking and even earned seven corners in the first half. However, they were not successful until the 43rd minute when Francis Fernandes did all the spadework and relayed the ball to Clifton Dias who released the ball to a better-placed Darryl Duffy who slotted the ball home to give Salgaocar a 1-0 lead at half time. Mohammedan Sporting, who made one change from their last match loss against Pune FC by bringing in Penn Orji, had their share of exchanges in the first half with Josimar and Tolgay Ozbay causing problems to the rival defence, but Chika Wali was alert to ward off the dangers. Sporting came close to scoring in the 28th minute when Josimar's release to Israil Gurung on the right saw the latter attempt to find the far post, but Salgoacar keeper Karanjit Singh pulled off fine save and blocked Penn from the rebound as well. Soon after resumption, Sporting could have equalised when Israil Gurung's shot at the goal saw keeper Karanjit beaten but an alert Augustin Fernandes cleared the ball to safety in the 48th minute. After this close shave, Salgaocar celebrated with a goal. JOHNSON'S HEADER GUIDES BENGALURU FC TO 1-0 WIN OVER UNITED SC BANGALORE: A first-half strike by John Johnson helped Bengaluru FC beat United Sports Club by a solitary goal in their third round match of the Airtel I-League at the Bengaluru Football Stadium here. The win propelled the Bangalore outfit to the top of the table with seven points from three matches. On the other hand, this was United SC's first loss in three matches after the Kolkata side had won their first two games at home. It was in the fourth minute of the match when man-of-the-match Johnson headed in a perfect corner by Beikhokhei Beingaichho to register his second goal in the ongoing I-League.