Pathan ton in vain

Indian smashes fastest IPL century but Royals lose by four runs

Last updated: 13th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Pathan ton in vain

Pathan: Record IPL century

Indian Premier League
Mumbai
Mumbai Indians 212-6 Innings Complete (A T Rayudu 55, S S Tiwary 53) v Rajasthan Royals 208-7 Innings Complete (Y K Pathan 100)
Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by 4 runs

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A record century from Yusuf Pathan was not enough to save the Rajasthan Royals from suffering a tense four-run defeat against the Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League opener.

After Sachin Tendulkar had won the toss and decided to bat first, the hosts made 212-6 from their 20 overs, thanks largely to a 110-run partnership between Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu.

Shane Warne's side struggled early on in response to such a good score, but Pathan put his hand up and smashed exactly 100 from just 37 balls, with the fastest century in the IPL including nine boundaries and eight sixes.

Pathan was one of four Royals to be run out though, and those wickets undermined the away side's run chase, which went right down to the wire but ultimately saw them come up just four runs short at 208-7.

Blistering half-centuries from Ambati Rayudu (55) and Saurabh Tiwary (53) helped propel the hosts up to such a good score in the first place.

Boundaries

Sanath Jayasuriya smacked three boundaries in the first over and his brisk 23 gave the Indians a fine start, which was continued by Adita Tare also making 23 in good time.

Mascarenhas, however, landed twin blows in the first over after the powerplay, removing both Tendulkar and Tare in the space of three deliveries, but Mumbai recovered magnificently through Rayudu and Tiwary's partnership.

Rayudu unleashed a flurry of boundaries up front and the Royals attack was put to the sword once Tiwary also found his feet, but the Indians also lost Harbhajan Singh as he picked up a knee injury when batting which kept him off the field for the rest of the match.

The Royals lost opener Swapnil Asnodkar without scoring, and South African skipper Graeme Smith later went for 26 when Rajagopal Sathish plucked a spectacular catch off his own bowling.

At the halfway stage of the innings, the Royals were reeling at 69-4, but Yusuf injected life into the Royals' chase by clobbering left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza for three consecutive sixes and smashing Sathish for three fours and two sixes in the following over.

He raised his half-century off only 21 deliveries and needed only 16 more deliveries to reach his 100 - peppered with nine fours and eight sixes - but was run out immediately after.

Yusuf raised 107 for the fifth wicket with Dogra and it left the Royals needing only 19 from the last two overs, but Zaheer Khan conceded only seven in the 19th and Malinga snuffed out their chances by claiming two wickets and conceding only seven in the final over as the Royals fell agonisingly short.

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