Rohit, Johnson sink Pune
An unbeaten 62 from Rohit Sharma and Mitchell Johnson's three key wickets afforded the Mumbai Indians a convincing 41-run triumph over the Pune Warriors in Saturday's Indian Premier League clash at the Wankhede Stadium.
An unbeaten half-ton from Rohit Sharma and Mitchell Johnson's three key wickets afforded the Mumbai Indians a convincing 41-run triumph over the Pune Warriors in Saturday's Indian Premier League clash at the Wankhede Stadium.
Sharma cracked 62 not out off just 32 balls as Mumbai posted a daunting 183 for three batting first.
Pune made a disastrous start in reply as Aaron Finch was removed by Australia team-mate Mitchell Johnson first ball and the Warriors were eventually reduced to just 142 for eight.
Sharma finished the Mumbai innings with a flourish after Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik had expertly set an early platform following the dismissal of captain Ricky Ponting for 14.
Tendulkar caressed 44 off only 29 balls and Karthik reclaimed the Orange Cap – the symbol for the tournament's leading runscorer – with an equally elegant 41 off the same number of deliveries.
Sharma cleared the rope five times at the end of the innings and the scorecard made dismal reading for Pune pace bowler Ashok Dinda, who returned the joint most expensive IPL figures of 0-63 from four overs.
Australian left-arm quick Johnson then set the tone at the start of the Warriors' reply when he delivered an unplayable inswinger which crashed into Finch's stumps.
Ross Taylor departed the very next over after a mix-up with Robin Uthappa and Pune were in dire straights when Johnson bowled the latter in the third over.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh blazed 38 off 26 deliveries down the order to add some respectability to the Pune total, however there was simply no stopping Mumbai marching to a third successive win.
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