Cool Tendulkar stars in seven-wicket win

How does one get Sachin Tendulkar out cheaply? That's a question all teams are dying to know. At the moment, he seems unstoppable. His steady and graceful 71 tonight at the Brabourne Stadium tonight sent out the message to the Kolkata Knight Riders that 155 is not challenging enough a target. His assault began in the second over of the chase when he punished the struggling Ishant Sharma. Tendulkar gave Ishant a nightmare by fetching three fours, all crisply driven down the ground off the front foot.

It was as if Tendulkar was on a mission to hit Ishant out of the attack and further expose his poor form in limited-overs cricket. He was punished for bowling length to Tendulkar, punched through extra cover and pulled twice to bring up three consecutive boundaries in his second over. Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan had the chase in overdrive with a flurry of boundaries. Tendulkar then flicked Chris Gayle for four past midwicket to bring up Mumbai's fifty in just 26 balls, the fastest in IPL 3.

He survived a close call on 41 when Murali Kartik failed to pouch a return catch. That let off hurt Kolkata as Tendulkar brought up his fifty with consecutive boundaries off Ishant, flicked elegantly over midwicket. His presence at the other end was a safety net for Mumbai as they cruised home by seven wickets.