Flops of the match: MI vs RR

 

The Mumbai Indians moved into the final after Harbhajan Singh and Dwayne Smith tore the Rajasthan Royals apart with the ball and the bat respectively. In the midst of the runs and wickets a few players stood out like sore throbbing thumbs.

Shane Watson - The burly no. 3 from Australia only managed to score 6 runs off 8 balls before he fell trying to flick Harbhajan Singh to the boundary. He only ended up top edging the ball to Rohit Sharma. His bowling was no better as Mumbai took his first two overs to the cleaners hammering 24 runs including 3 fours and a six. Then inexplicably, he was handed the ball for the final over and even though he removed Rayudu, he could not deny the Mumbai Indians the inevitable victory.

Lasith Malinga - The Slinger from Sri Lanka bowled really well in his first over as he conceded only 4 runs and bagged the wicket of Samson. However, he self-destructed in the final over letting 18 runs slip up. His second effort at bowling the fifth ball of that over brought back memories of Stephen Harmison’s wide on the first day of the first day of the 2006 Ashes. Malinga’s effort though eclipsed that howler, the ball was so wide that Hodge could have played it even if was standing on the adjoining pitch.

Rohit Sharma - The Mumbai captain failed in both the major departments he had to handle personally. He allowed the Royals off the hook in the final 3 overs as the boys from Jaipur hammered 46 runs as they sprinted to 165. then when he came out to bat, he poked the ball around for 7 balls before he tried to slog the eighth ball out of the park and found Trivedi’s ball slipping through and his stumps being knocked out.