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Durban: Beware of the wounded champs. Defending champions Team Jaipur have been hurt, and hurt badly. That too by a team that finished second from bottom in IPL's inaugural season last year.
Tendulkar could well have defined a role for himself through his patient fifty in the first game: try to bat for at least 15 overs, and give the big hitters most of the strike. Let the Jayasuriyas, the Bravos hit around Tendulkar. Malinga and Harbhajan look good with the ball, and should pose a test for Rajasthan.
Warne rolled back the years, with flight, dip, big break, and also the fiery flipper. Ask Virat Kohli and B Akhil. Dimitri Mascarenhas proved to be the surprise element with the ball. With the odd quick delivery out of nowhere, Kamran Khan showed a glimpse or two of what Warne might have seen. Graeme Smith will have to run into some pretty good form pretty soon.
Not only did Shane Warne’s side lose their opening match to Royal Challengers by 75 runs - a big loss by Twenty20 standards - they were also bowled out for a paltry 58, the lowest till date in the IPL and the second lowest in Twenty20 history.
Warne v Tendulkar: Perhaps the biggest gift from this new format. It happened only once last season because Tendulkar was not fit for their first match. Even though they went at it for just six balls, they did put up a show.
Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians, who narrowly missed a semi-final berth last year, opened their campaign with a 19-run win over Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Team Chennai, and would be keen to continue the winning momentum.
The best thing about the Mumbai side is the form of Tendulkar, who remained unbeaten on 59 off 49 balls to anchor his team’s innings from start till last.
Match facts
Tuesday April 21, 2009
Start time 04.30pm, 14.30GMT, 08:00pm IST
