On this day, March 22, 2010: Sachin Tendulkar shines as Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets. It was Kolkata Knight Riders who were batting first on a tricky pitch. Saurav Ganguly and Chris Gayle put up a 70 run partnership for the opening wicket but despite not losing any wicket the scoring rate was really low. Saurav Ganguly in particular struggled as he made 31 runs of 34 balls before getting dismissed. Kolkata Knight Riders were 70/1 at the tenth over and the game was in balance.
Owais Shah joined Chris Gayle and the duo played aggressively and put up a very second wicket partnership. Owais Shah ended the innings with an unbeaten 31 of 23 balls. While Chris Gayle scored 75 runs of 60 balls. It was the typical Gayle innings as the strike rate was a bit low. However the pitch was a tricky one and on the back of this partnership Kolkata Knight Riders went past the 150 run mark.
Kolkata Knight Riders ended the first innings with 155/3 and it was a good effort from the Mumbai Indians bowlers. Zaheer Khan was the pick of the bowlers picking up two wickets. Kolkata Knight Riders did miss out on a few more runs as they were not really aggressive and lost only three wickets so this score was slightly below par.
Chasing the target, Mumbai Indians openers Shikhar Dhawan and Chris Gayle put up a 50 runs partnership for the opening wicket and it was Sachin Tendulkar who dominated proceedings as they started very quickly. Mumbai Indians cruised through the chase and this start almost brought the required run rate to less than run a ball at one stage. Dhawan departed for 23 but Sachin Tendulkar kept going as he brought up his half-century. Saurabh Tiwary played a cameo of 30 runs and in the end Mumbai Indians chased down the target with seven wickets spare. Sachin Tendulkar was the player of the match for his outstanding knock of 71 off just 48 balls. It was an innings of the highest quality from the God of cricket.
