Rajasthan Royals lose steam to leave Mumbai Indians on top

MUMBAI: It takes one poor decision to ruin a good contest and that job was done on Wednesday night by umpire Sudhir Asnani. The 52-year-old from Bhopal, adjudged Rajasthan Royals' skipper Rahul Dravid out caught behind when he had missed his attempted hook off Mitchell Johnson by a good eight inches in the Indian T20 league game against Mumbai Indians. The decision incensed Dravid no end and the batsman, known for his calm demeanour, just stood transfixed at the crease, before departing. He also had a real go at Asnani and tried to throw his bat in disgust in the dug out, before better sense prevailed. Royals, who were chasing a competitive 167 for victory, tried to make a match of it but Lasith Malinga made sure they could not by bowling perfect yorkers at the death. Rajasthan lost by 14 runs to put Mumbai on top of the tally. Rajasthan also lost James Faulkner, Sanju Samson and Ajinkya Rahane cheaply and were looking wobbly at 58 for 4 at the end of nine overs. Mitchell Johnson (3-0-17-2) and Dhawal Kulkarni (3-0-11-2) had once again bowled incisive spells to slice through the opposition top-order. Shane Watson, Stuart Binny and Brad Hodge played cameos to raise hopes but those were not enough to see the team through. Dravid's reaction was an indication of how much this match meant to both sides despite them qualifying for the playoffs. It was a turbo-charged humid night and when Watson walked in at No. 5, it reached tipping point. He was sledged by his big-hitting MI counterpart Kieron Pollard and it needed the intervention of umpire Asad Rauf to calm things down. Earlier, Dravid expectedly put MI in as his side had been in good chasing form. It suited Rohit Sharma, the MI skipper too as his boys have done well whenever they have batted first, especially at home. It was no different on Wednesday too as they ended with a competitive 166 for 8. The score was possible thanks to a buccaneering innings from season's debutant Aditya Tare 59 (37balls, 8x4, 1 x6) and his 76-run stand for the second wicket off 51 balls with Dinesh Karthik (21). The innings went a bit pear shaped in the end as they lost the wickets of their enforcers Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard just when they were looking threatening.   Source: TOI