By IANS,
Bangalore : Mumbai Indians put up an all-round display to end their Indian Premier League campaign with a thumping nine-wicket victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers here Wednesday.
The win though came late for Mumbai Indians, who went out of the semifinal contention after losing three close games in a row, which made them dependant on other teams’ losses to reach the last four.
Set to chase a paltry 123 to win, Sanath Jayasuriya (54 off 37) and Sachin Tendulkar (40 not out) made it a lopsided contest and reached the target with 12 balls to spare. The experienced duo paced their innings beautifully, punishing the bad deliveries. Jayasuriya smashed four sixes and four boundaries while Tendulkar batted around him without taking any risks.
The match was reduced to 18-overs a side after rain delayed the start by an hour and a half.
The lacklustre Bangalore Royal Challengers finished their campaign at the seventh place in IPL points tally.
Dilhara Fernando, who gave away 15 runs in the last over in their must-win match against Rajasthan Royals to see his team lose, was the pick of the bowlers Wednesday, taking four wickets that cost just 18 runs in his quota of four overs.
Fernando bowled a controlled spell and restricted the Bangalore Royal Challengers to a low score.
Shaun Pollock and Ashish Nehra bowled a disciplined line to Bangalore openers. They made scoring difficult for openers Shrrevats Goswami (20) and Mark Boucher (18).
Fernando was all fire right from the start and took three wickets for three runs in his first two overs to rock Bangalore’s start. From 35 for no loss, the hosts were reduced to 39 for three. The damp outfield conditions made scoring difficult for the batsmen.
The pressure of losing three early wickets meant Bangalore had hit only five boundaries in the first 10 overs. Cameron White (26) hit two fours and a six in Dhawal Kulkarni’s second over that cost 18 runs. Devon Smith removed White in the next over and Bangalore then lost few quick wickets. R Vinay Kumar (23) and Anil Kumble (11) boosted the scoring late down the order.