Indian Premier League: Mumbai Indians conquer Pune Warriors to lead the table

An all-round effort from the batsmen and fine bowling in 41-run win helps Ricky Ponting's side go top of the table on net run rate.

File picture from last year's IPL of Sachin Tendulkar, who set the tone for the win today with the bat against Pune. Sajjad Hussain / AFP
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Toss Mumbai Indians, chose to bat
Mumbai Rohit 62, Tendulkar 44, Karthik 41; Marsh 1-24
Pune Marsh 38, Yuvraj 24; Johnson 3-33
Man of the match Rohit Sharma (Mumbai)

Mumbai Indians scored a morale-boosting win at home with a convincing 41-run victory over Pune Warriors India to take their turn to top the table with six points.

Bangalore and Hyderabad are also on six points with Royal Challengers due to take the field in Chennai against the Super Kings later Saturday.

The going against Pune was always going to be difficult with Mitchell Johnson's double blow at the start of a tall run chase of 184.

Touted as one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament, Johnson's late swing from full length accounted for Pune's in-form and openers Aaron Finch and Robin Uthappa. New Zealander Ross Taylor was run out and Tirumalasetti Suman was done by the turn of Harbhajan Singh as he charged down the wicket but holed out to Kieron Pollard.

Once Pollard had Yuvraj Singh caught in the deep, Pune were facing a mountain at 71 for five, from which they never recovered.

Earlier, Mumbai got off to a great start, especially in the second over, when Ashok Dhinda got hammered by Sachin Tendulkar for four successive boundaries.

Tendulkar survived after Yuvraj dropped off a straightforward catch off the bowling of leg-spinner Rahul Sharma at mid-on. Tendulkar (44) perished trying to reach his half-century with a straight hoick over the Australian spin bowler Finch but did not have enough distance and was caught by Finch's compatriot Mitchell Starc.

His dismissal followed Ricky Ponting who could not keep down Yuvraj's first delivery of the spell and offered an easy catch to Abhishek Nayar at point.

If Pune were hoping to break the momentum, it was not to be as Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma helped cement the team's position further. Karthik's 41 runs took him to the top of the run-scoring table, replacing Bangalore captain Virat Kohli.

Marsh had Karthik leg before which brought Pollard to the crease, who was moved up the order after many fans had voiced their surprise at his late entries in the previous games.

The big-hitting West Indies all-rounder joined Rohit to move up a gear, Rohit especially bludgeoning the Pune bowlers to a 32-ball unbeaten knock of 62 runs.

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