Mumbai tastes victory!

KOLKATA: Finally, Mumbai tasted victory in the match played against Kolkata. With the big name Sachin Tendulkar missing from the team, the result was actually NOT, what every Cricket fan must have expected!
This time the Mumbai came forward with a better plan and strategy. This game plan provided them the least expected seven-wicket victory over the Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata.
Mumbai’s batting was initially landed in troubled waters, only to emerge as victorious later! After losing three early wickets, Mumbai’s fourth-wicket pair of Robin Uthappa and Dwayne Bravo completely extracted the match away from the home side.
The duo produced the match winning unbeaten 113-run partnership, a championship record. After coming together at 25 for three in 4.1 overs, Uthappa and Bravo gave the much needed support to their team.
The two kept on plundering the runs and Ganguly’s bowling changes could not check this runs spree! The two added 50 off 43 balls and 100 off 74 balls. The blunder on Kolkata team’s side was when Debabrata Das dropped Uthappa, on five. This drop proved fatal for his team.

Man of the Match was Sanath Jayasuriya. The win was a result of combined effort of batting and bowling sides. Kolkata was restricted to 137 for eight by Mumbai bowling attack.

Earlier, Kolkata team was successful in making a respectable score only with the help of Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s 40 (22b, 4×4, 2×6) and Debabrata Das’ 29. Stand-in captain Shaun Pollock picked up two wickets in the first over itself. Sourav Ganguly landed a shot in the safe hands of Sanath Jayasuriya. A run later, Brendon McCullum was declared leg before by umpire A.V. Jayaprakash. After that Kolkata team could not recover from the initial jolts.
Das, who played aggressively, seemed to be the only hope of Kolkata team but he also went back to the pavilion for 29.