Sachin puts Mumbai on road to victory

After Tendulkar8217;s heroics had ensured a five-run lead, the Mumbai bowlerscomplemented the master batsmen8217;s efforts by bundling out the opposition fora sub-200 score. Chasing 167 for victory, skipper Sameer Dighe led the runcharge as Mumbai closed the day 63 runs adrift of the target with ninewickets in hand.

The proceedings were quite anti-climactic to the tension-filled session that Mumbai encountered earlier in the day. Resuming at the overnight score of470-8, Abey Kuruvilla 0 was run out in the second over of the day leavinglast man Santosh Saxena to battle it out with Tendulkar for the 14 runs Mumbai needed to overhaul Tamil Nadu8217;s tally of 485.

Tendulkar puts things in prospective with a blazing six off Sadagopan Mahesh that sailed into the adjacent University Stadium. In the next over bowled by Thiru Kumaran, Tendulkar unleashed a cover drive to level the scores. Thesetwo shots by Tendulkar under pressure will surely be part of Mumbai cricketing folklore. In the first instance, he stepped out and slammed the ball like a forehand in tennis. Robin Singh8217;s efforts of nine men on the boundary were to no avail as Tendulkar8217;s next shot, a pile-driver, whizzedto the boundary even as the Tamil Nadu skipper dived full-length at theextra-cover fence to stop it.

The job wasn8217;t over yet. Tendulkar8217;s fierce pull off Kumaran ensured Mumbai the lead and virtually a berth in the summit clash. In a riot display of emotions, Tendulkar pumped his clenched fists in the air and let out an uncharacteristic war cry to underline his accomplishment. In between, Saxena survived a couple of lbw appeals while facing an entire Mahesh over. Thetailender finally fell playing uppishly which meant Tendulkar returnedunconquered. Such was Tendulkar8217;s domination that he scored all the 20 runsthat Mumbai added to their overnight tally this morning.

Tendulkar8217;s determination to win the match could well lay in the fact thatthe Mumbai team had decided to dedicate the contest to Vinod Kambli8217;s motherVijaya, who had expired on the eve of the encounter. Tendulkar8217;s highest first class score when Mumbai needed him most was a fitting tribute to the departed soul of his best friend8217;s mother.

8220;It was a knock of sheer determination, discipline and dedication worthy ofemulating by one and all,8221; said Mankad, saluting the maestro8217;s innings.

The demoralised Tamil Nadu team then made a hash of their second innings. Intrying to make a match out of whatever was remaining, they went for thejugular and perished in the process. Barring Hemang Badani 63 and a cameoby Reuben Paul 46, there was little to shout about for the visitors, wholost half the side with only 43 runs on the board.

Medium-pacers Ajit Agarkar, Santosh Saxena an Abey Kuruvilla alongwithoff-spinner Ramesh Powar shared the spoils.

Dighe, the Mumbai captain, intent on creating a mark in the encounter, came up with a flurry of boundaries to log his second fifty in as many innings. Though Wasim Jaffer, who had earlier ran out Badani with a superb throw, departed early, Dighe and Jatin Paranjpe saw the day through without any hiccups.

SCOREBOARD

Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 485

Mumbai 1st innings:

Sameer Dighe c Paul b Mahesh 163b, 231m, 6215;4, 1215;6 55
Wasim Jaffer c Ramesh b Kapoor 65b, 103m, 1215;4 12
Jatin Paranjpe c Kapoor b Kumaran 35b, 61m, 3215;4 15
Sachin Tendulkar not out 334b, 565m, 21215;4, 5215;6 233
Rajesh Pawar c Madanagopal b Kapoor 13b, 20m 1
Vinod Kambli c amp; b Mahesh 107b, 173m, 11215;4, 1215;6 75
Amol Muzumdar c Singh b Sriram 105b, 157m, 7215;4 47
Ramesh Powar c Sriram b Mahesh 16b, 25m, 2215;4 13
Ajit Agarkar c Madanagopal b Kapoor 62b, 63m, 1215;4 13
Abey Kuruvilla run out 15b, 34m 0
Santosh Saxena c Badani b Kumaran 7b, 12m
Extras: 9b, 7lb, 10nb 26
Total: all out in 152 overs; 733 mins 490
Fall of wickets: 1-41 Jaffer, 21, 2-77 Paranjpe, 36, 3-120 Dighe, 49.5, 4-127 Pawar, 54.1, 5-266 Kambli, 89.4, 6-391 Muzumdar, 122.5, 7-412 Powar, 127.3, 8-449 Agarkar, 142.2, 9-472 Kuruvilla, 148.2, 10-490 Saxena, 152
Bowling: Kumaran 26-7-88-2 2nb, Mahesh 27-3-105-3, Gokulakrishnan21-7-72-0, Kapoor 29-6-93-3 6nb, Singh 27-9-48-0 2nb, Sriram 22-2-68-Tamil Nadu 2nd innings:

Sridharan Sriram c Paranjpe b Agarkar 18b, 34m, 1215;4 10
Sadagopan Ramesh camp;b Saxena 14b, 16m, 2215;4 13
Hemang Badani run out Jaffer 124b, 222m, 6215;4, 1215;6
Jayaraman Madanagopal b Agarkar 13b, 19m, 1215;4 6
Sridharan Sharath lbw b Kuruvilla 19b, 25m 1
Robin Singh camp;b Kuruvilla 4b, 6m, 1215;4 4
Reuben Paul c Kambli b Powar 70b, 98m, 4215;4, 2215;6 46
Sadagopan Mahesh c Dighe b Saxena 2b, 3m 0
J Gokulakrishnan c Kambli b Pawar 13b, 15m, 1215;4 5
Aashish Kapoor not out 31b, 51m, 2215;4 19
Thiru Kumaran lbw b Powar 17b, 18m 2
Extras: 2lb 2
Total: all out in 54.1 overs; 258 mins 171
Fall of wickets: 1-14 Ramesh, 3.1 overs, 2-28 Sriram, 6.5, 3-36Madanagopal, 10.3, 4-39 Sharath, 15.5, 5-43 Robin, 17.3, 6-125 Paul,39, 7-125 Mahesh, 39.2, 8-138 Gokul, 42.4, 9-158 Badani, 49.5, 10-171Kumaran, 54.1
Bowling: Agarkar 16-1-37-2, Saxena 8-1-35-2, Kuruvilla 7-2-16-2, Powar 9.1-2-19-2, Pawar 14-0-62-1

Mumbai 2nd innings:

Sameer Dighe batting 77b, 122m, 8215;4 51
Wasim Jaffer c Ramesh b Kapoor 48b, 71m, 2215;4 15
Jatin Paranjpe batting 41b, 50m, 4215;4, 1215;6 27
Extras: 5b, 2lb, 4nb 11
Total: for one wicket in 27 overs; 122mins 104
Fall of wicket: 1-39 Jaffer, 14
Bowling: Kumaran 3-0-10-0, Mahesh 4-3-6-0, Gokulakrishnan 2-1-2-0, Kapoor 8-1-46-1 4nb, Sriram 8-1-28-0, Badani 2-0-5-0