Were the Rajasthan Royals guilty of believing their own press ?   In any case, they were thoroughly thrashed by the still Tendulkar-less Mumbai squad, and must now reflect on a very poor performance.  

Their batting simply wasn’t up to the task, with wickets given away in wasteful fashion and a total that simply wasn’t defendable, although they give it as good an effort as possible.  Mumbai, on the other hand, can take heart from this victory although the imminent departure of Bravo, even if Tendulkar gets fit anytime soon, would appear to rule out a serious challenge…

IPL Match Report
Date       : 7/5/2008
Teams (Home first)     : Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals
Result       : Mumbai won, 7 wickets
Toss Won      : Mumbai, chose to field
Top Bat Home       : Uthappa, 34
Top Bat Away      : Asnodkar, 39
Highest first 6 over score      : Raj 48, Mum 34
Highest Opening Partnership     : Raj 12, Mum 41
Total sixes hit       : Raj 2, Mum 3
Total wides       : Mum bowled 5
Total run outs       : 0

Lineups / Scorecard

Rajasthan
G. Smith          st Takawale     b Pollock     5 (9b)
S. Asnodkar     c Uthappa        b Raje      39 (36b)
Y. Pathan        b Nehra                           1 (3b)
S. Watson       b Bravo                          32 (20b)
M. Kaif            c Nehra            b Raje        4 (7b)
R. Jadeja         c Takawale       b Kulkarni    0 (1b)
S. Warne         c Takawale      b Kulkarni    7 (7b)
S. Tanvir          b Nehra                           6 (6b)
M. Rawat         c Takawale  b Nehra          1 (5b)
S. Trivedi         b Bravo                            1 (3b)
M. Patel           not out                           0 (1b)
Total              (10 wickets, 16.2 overs)       103

Mumbai
Y. Takawale      b Warne                     27 (32b)
S. Jayasuriya      c Pathan     b Watson  18 (20b)
R. Uthappa        not out                      34 (21b) 
D. Bravo            c Asnodkar  b Watson    1 (5b)
A. Nayar            not out                      12 (13b)
D. Thornely
S. Pollock
S. Tiwary
R. Raje
A. Nehra
D. Kulkarni
Total (3 wickets, 15.1 overs)       104

In a woeful display, Rajasthan folded limply for a pitiful total of 103.   The tone was set by South African skipper Graeme Smith, who advanced down the pitch to Pollock with the keeper standing up, only to miss the ball.   Had he done the sensible thing and returned to his crease, all would have been well, but he basically stuck his bat under his arm and kept walking.  

Given that the ball struck his thigh, it was always going to be a tough take for the keeper, but Takawale blocked it, picked the ball up and took off the bails at his leisure.  Smith looked neutral as he walked off but he must have been embarrassed at such a schoolboy error, and no doubt someone from the Royals’ setup will have a quiet word...