Sachin Tendulkar has consistently performed a hat trick of sorts in Indian Premier League 2010.  On a regular basis he has been top scoring in the matches played, converting them into half centuries and in the process winning Man of the Match Awards. His scores in the tournament read 17, 63, 25, 71 not out, 72, 55, 11, 35, 45, 29, 89 not out.  Sachin Tendulkhar has top scored on 7 occasions in 11 matches, has slammed 5 half centuries and won 4 Man of the Match Awards.

Sachin Tendulkar now is the highest run scorer in the tournament with 512 runs at an average of 56.88.  Sachin's runs have come in a mere 367 deliveries at a imposing strike rate of 139.50 with 71 boundaries and 3 sixes.  What is more important is that those runs have come while performing dual roles of anchoring and blasting out bowling attacks to perfection.  Sachin has taken upon himself the task of anchoring the innings when his partners were launching an onslaught and when his partners were unable to come to terms with the bowlers, he has taken upon himself the task of hitting bowlers out of the attack.

The match at Jaipur against Rajasthan's Royals on 11th April 2010, was an extra ordinary innings considering the situation Mumbai Indains were in.  Sachin lost the toss and what was even worse was Mumbai Indians were reeling at 30 for three at a venue where Shane Warne and Company have never lost a match.  With wickets tumbling at the other end Sachinpaced his innings beautifully, first reconstructing the innings with Dumminy and then stepping up the gear in the company of Pollard.  The best part of Sachin'sinnings was the fact that he never set a target score in the middle of innings for that put would have put pressure on himself and the team and could have easily backfired by losing wickets in the process of going for quick runs so as to reach the target.  Thanks to Sachins tactical brilliance both as a batsman and captain that Shane Warne never knew whether Tedulkar was targetting a score of 140 plus, 150 plus or 160 plus and by the time he realized that Sachin took Mumbai to 174 a match winning at that.   On the contrary he took things as per the situation, one at a time and decided to play a safe game till such time he was convinced he can launch a onslaught.

While Sachin scored at almost a run a ball in the first half of the innings when wickets were tumbling, he went after the bowlers in the second half of the innings.  His unbeaten 89 his best ever in T20 matches came in a mere 59 deliveries at a strike rate in excess of 150.  While Sachin has played many brilliant innings in this IPL especially when anchoring the chase like his unbeaten 71 of 48 deliveries against Kolkata and 72 of 52 deliveries against Chennai while chasing a imposing target of 180, his unbeaten 89 yesterday against Rajasthan Royals has to be best while setting a target for Sachins maturity during most part of the innings and brilliance in the end sealed the fate of Rajasthan Royals.

Sachin Tendulkar 20 runs of the last over the innings ensured the match was Mumbai Indians, and his 512 runs in the tournament ensured that Mumbai Indians became the first team to qualify for the semi finals.

 


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