Mumbai: Yusuf Pathan scored the second-fastest Twenty20 hundred, fastest in IPL history, but it wasn’t enough, as the Mumbai Indians, who scored their highest score in the IPL, held on to their nerves and managed to scratch their way to a 4-run win in their opening game of IPL 2010, thanks to a superb spell of death bowling by Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga.

Yusuf smashed eight sixes and nine fours in his 37-ball 100 – the fastest century in IPL – as Rajasthan fought back from a precarious 66-4 but an unfortunate run-out ended Yusuf’s brutal knock. Chasing 213, Rajasthan needed 19 runs off the final two overs but Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga conceded only 14.

Sachin Tendulkar won the toss on a beauty of a batting wicket at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and opted to bat first. The match, being touted as the resumption of the battle between Tendulkar and Royals captain Shane Warne, didn’t reach the point as Sachin Tendulkar departed before the spin legend came on to bowl.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Tendulkar, however, did get Mumbai off to a flying start with the veteran Sri Lankan taking the attack to the likes of Shaun Tait and Kamran Khan. Jayasuriya crashed three fours and a six in his 14-ball 23 before Amit Uniyal trapped the Sri Lankan in front of the stumps. Dmitri Mascarenhas then had Tendulkar playing across the line, trapping the master blaster in front of the wickets for 17. Mascarenhas added another wicket to his tally in the same over when he had Aditya Tare caught by Warne at short cover.

Ambati Rayudu, an ICL returnee making his IPL debut and considered by many as one of the unluckiest to have not played for India yet, and Saurabh Tiwary added 110 runs in a little over 10 overs with Tiwary in particular going after Shane Warne, as the left-hander dispatched the legendary leg-spinner for 29 runs in his three overs.

Rayudu started cautiously but picked up pace with some fluent boundaries all around the ground. He finally fell for 55 which came off only 33 balls while Tiwary’s 53 also took up as many deliveries. The duo powered the home side to what seemed like a match-winning total, but it turned out to be one that just about dodged the Yusuf-shaped bullet.

Chasing 213 to win, Rajasthan were off to a disastrous start when they lost opener Swapnil Asnodkar in the first over. Naman Ojha and Graeme Smith (26) followed soon and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala’s dismissal in the 10th over saw them struggling at 66-4.

The “it’s good to be back in India” campaign of the IPL this year just seems like it was exclusively made for Yusuf Pathan! After being the find of the season in the inaugural IPL, he failed miserably in the second season in South Africa. But in his very first innings back in India, Yusuf took an almost lost cause and turned it right on its head.

Yusuf’s blitzkrieg began when Rajasthan needed 143 runs off 57 balls. He scored 54 off the next 11 balls he faced, the next 26 deliveries got him 46, and when he finally got out for 100 off 37 balls, Rajasthan needed 40 to win off 17 deliveries.

R Satish, another ICL returnee and arguably the best fielder in India, accounted for Yusuf to add to his direct-hit run-out and a terrific caught-and-bowled. He bowled a full delivery to Paras Dogra, the other batsman, who hit it straight back at him. Satish then dived in his follow through to field the ball with one hand, and reverse-flicked to catch a backing-up Yusuf short of the crease.

Paras Dogra, who had scored 18 off 20 in the 107-run partnership until then, opened up once Yusuf was dismissed hitting two fours and two sixes to bring down the target to 19 off 12.

Zaheer and Malinga, though, with Harbhajan Singh injured and not available to bowl, performed like champs. Out of the 12 balls in the last two overs, eleven were near-yorkers from the duo.

In the end, Rajasthan could manage 208 for 7, four short of what would have been one of the most dramatic turnarounds in T20 history.

Interestingly, Mumbai became the first team in the three seasons of IPL to play, with only three overseas players instead of the allowed four. Also, Kapil Dev and friends from the now dead Indian Cricket League could afford a smile too. Rayudu, Sathish and Ali Murtaza, all performing well in the game, are returning from the ICL.

Match Summary:

Mumbai Indians 212 for 6 (Rayudu 55, Tiwary 53, Mascarenhas 2-34) beat Rajasthan Royals 208 for 7 (Yusuf 100, Dogra 41, Malinga 2-22) by 4 runs

Man of the Match: Yusuf Pathan

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