Mumbai book semi-final spot
Mumbai book semi-final spot
Sachin Tendulkar smashed an unbeaten half-century as Mumbai sealed their place in the semi-finals of the IPL with a commanding 37-run victory over Jaipur.
Tendulkar hit an unbeaten 89 and shared substantial partnerships with JP Duminy (31) and Kieron Pollard (25) as Mumbai recovered from a poor start to reach 174 for five.
Jaipur were never in the hunt and their chances of going through to the semi-finals were left in doubt when they were restricted to 137 for eight.
They need to win their remaining two matches and hope other results go their way to progress.
Top Performer: Sachin Tendulkar
Shane Watson had given Jaipur a good start with the ball, but regular lapses in the field proved costly.
Watson, who shared the new ball with Yusuf Pathan, inflicted a double blow in his first over, snaring Sanath Jayasuriya for one and his replacement Ambati Rayudu for a duck.
Mumbai were plunged into some disarray when Watson struck again in his second over to remove Saurabh Tiwary for 15, but Tendulkar had held firm and he rebuilt nicely with Duminy.
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Together the pair added 63 for the fourth wicket, but Mumbai slipped further into trouble when Duminy mistimed a pull shot and was caught by Michael Lumb at short square-leg.
With Mumbai on 93 for four, Jaipur were in command, but they contrived to lose the plot from there.
Adam Voges missed an excellent opportunity to have Pollard run out before he could get off the mark, but the costlier miss came shortly later when Tendulkar was dropped on 45.
Watson also failed to collect a throw which could have had Rajagopal Sathish run out and Tendulkar changed gears quickly at the death to help Mumbai finish with a flourish.
It's all about numbers
Jaipur's response was feeble. Opener Lumb cracked Dhawal Kulkarni for two boundaries before steering a delivery to Duminy at point, Naman Ojha was dislodged for a five-ball duck and Watson was run out with the score on 11.
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala briefly arrested the slide with a 23-run stand with Faiz Fazal and also featured in a 28-run partnership with Voges (2
.
Fazal and Jhunjhunwala were both run out as Mumbai effectively sealed victory with Yusuf's dismissal in the 14th over.
