Sachin Tendulkar is back to the top-10 ODI batsman list in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for the first time in 10 months after scoring his 44th one-day century against Sri Lanka at the finals of the Compaq Cup 2009 in Colombo on Monday.

Tendulkar soared five places to 7th in the latest rankings which was released today. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni grabbed the top spot from Yuvraj Singh to lead the table among ODI batsman.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh leapfrogged Jacques Kallis of South Africa, Jacob Oram of New Zealand and Andrew Flintoff of England into second place after scoring 80 runs and picking four wickets in the tri-series.

Sri Lanka’s veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya has moved up four places to 17th spot after a tallying a total of 141 runs in the tri-series.

Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir dropped two places each after both missed the series due to injuries.

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor slipped five places to 22nd and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena slipped seven places to share 37th spot with Australia’s Brad Haddin.

Among bowlers, New Zealand’s Kyle Mills dropped two places to fourth, allowing Daniel Vettori and Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh to move up the order.

Comeback man, New Zealand’s Shane Bond, finds himself in eighth position in the rankings, while Thilan Thushara, Ishant Sharma and Lasith Malinga have all jumping six places each to 24th, 33rd and 42nd positions respectively.

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India won the battle in the finals of the tri-nation Compaq Cup in Premadasa Stadium here. After winning the toss, India opted to bat first and scored 319/5 from 50 overs. The hosts had a huge target to chase. Sri Lanka lost the opening batting power in the beginning with wickets falling to Harbhajan Singh and when Kandamby tried to steal the show from India, Harbhajan was back to take his wicket. Finally the host lost to India after a good struggle that lasted till their 46.4 overs. They scored 273 and India won the Compaq Cup by 46 runs.

From India’s side, Sachin Tendulkar top scored with 138 runs followed by Yuvraj Singh (56 not out) and MS Dhoni (56). Thushara slammed 2 wickets from India’s side but it was Harbhajan Singh who smashed the Lankan team with his excellent bowling and obtained 5 wickets.

Man of the Match as well as Man of the Series was awarded to Sachin Tendulkar.

Scoreboard:

India innings (50 overs maximum)

R Dravid c Dilshan b Jayasuriya 39(56)

SR Tendulkar lbw b Mendis 138(133)

MS Dhoni c Kandamby b Malinga 56(62)

Yuvraj Singh not out 56(41)

YK Pathan c Kapugedera b Thushara 0(1)

SK Raina c Kulasekara b Thushara 8(6)

V Kohli not out 2(2)

Extras (b 1, w 18, nb 1) 20

Total (5 wickets; 50 overs) 319

Fall of wickets:1-95 (Dravid, 17.2 ov), 2-205 (Dhoni, 36.3 ov), 3-276 (Tendulkar, 45.6 ov), 4-277 (Pathan, 46.4 ov), 5-302 (Raina, 48.3 ov)

Bowling:Kulasekara:8-0-38-0-4.75, Thushara:10-0-71-2-7.10, Malinga:10-0-81-1-8.10, Mendis:10-0-70-1-7.00, Jayasuriya:9-0-43-1-4.77, Mathews:3-0-15-0-5.00

Sri Lanka innings (target: 320 runs from 50 overs)

T Dilshan b Harbhajan Singh 42(29)

S Jayasuriya c Nehra b Pathan 36(29)

M Jayawardene c & b Harbhajan Singh 1(5)

K Sangakkara hit wicket b Singh 33(37)

T Thushara b Sharma 15(14)

A Mathews c Raina b Yuvraj Singh 14(11)

T Kandamby b Harbhajan Singh 66(94)

C Kapugedera c Dhoni b Raina 35(42)

N Kulasekara not out 9(9)

L Malinga c & b Harbhajan Singh 0(1)

A Mendis st Dhoni b Harbhajan Singh   7(10)

Extras (lb 3, w 11, nb 1) 15

Total (10 wickets; 46.4 overs) 273 (5.85 runs per over)

Fall of wickets:1-64 (Dilshan, 7.5 ov), 2-76 (Jayawardene, 9.4 ov), 3-85 (Jayasuriya, 10.6 ov), 4-108 (Thushara, 14.3 ov), 5-131 (Mathews, 17.3 ov), 6-182 (Sangakkara, 27.3 ov), 7-252 (Kapugedera, 42.3 ov), 8-264 (Kandamby, 44.3 ov), 9-264 (Malinga, 44.4 ov), 10-273 (Mendis, 46.4 ov)

Bowling: Nehra:7-0-43-0-6.14, I Sharma:7-0-51-1-7.28, RP Singh:5-0-34-1-6.80, Harbhajan Singh:9.4-0-56-5-5.79, Y Pathan:4-0-36-1-9.00, Yuvraj Singh:6-0-24-1-4.00, S Raina:8-0-26-1-3.25

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India seems to be struggling to chase a huge total of 307 as they have been losing wickets since beginning. They are also struggling to stand and maintain partnerships.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka innings(50 overs maximum)

TM Dilshan c Dhoni b Sharma 23

ST Jayasuriya lbw b Nehra 98

DPM Jayawardene st Dhoni b Pathan 17

KC Sangakkara lbw b Harbhajan Singh 5

AD Mathews st Dhoni b Raina 19

SHT Kandamby not out 91

CK Kapugedera run out (Singh) 36

KMDN Kulasekara not out 3

Extras (lb 4, w 10, nb 1) 15

Total (6 wickets; 50 overs) 307 (6.14 runs per over)

Fall of wickets:1-57, 2-94, 3-102, 4-172, 5-176, 6-259

Bowling:A Nehra:9-0-62-1-6.88,RP Singh:8-0-58-0-7.25,I Sharma:10-0-67-1-6.70,Harbhajan Singh:10-1-37-1-3.70,YK Pathan:7-0-45-1-6.42,Yuvraj Singh:3-0-20-0-6.66,SK Raina:3-0-14-1-4.66

India innings (target: 308 runs from 50 overs)

KD Karthik c Sangakkara b Thushara 16

SR Tendulkar c Mendis b Kulasekara 27

R Dravid not out 35

Yuvraj Singh c Sangakkara b Malinga 16

SK Raina c Sangakkara b Mathews   0

MS Dhoni not out 0

Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 11) 13

Total (3 wickets; 20.2 overs) 107 (5.26 runs per over)

To bat: YK Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, A Nehra, I Sharma

Fall of wickets:1-32, 2-67, 3-105, 3-105

Bowling:KMDN Kulasekara:8-1-35-1-4.37,T Thushara:5-0-29-1-5.80,SL Malinga:5-0-22-1-4.40,TM Dilshan:2-0-17-0-8.50,AD Mathews:0.2-0-2-0-6.00

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As their semi-final hopes went up in smoke, a flustered Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar today held his batsmen responsible for the debacle as well as the inability to handle crunch situations.

He admitted his team lost the “crunch moments” which effectively came to an end when they were beaten by Chennai Super Kings at St George’s Park on Saturday.

Mumbai suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings which ended all their hopes to make the semi-final. With only one match left, against the table toppers Delhi Daredevils, they are stuck in seventh place.

“Throughout the tournament we lost the crunch moments,” said Tendulkar. “In the first match against Chennai everything clicked. But then our match against the Rajasthan Royals was washed out and we then had a break of seven days and we lost our momentum.”

Hayden made 60 not out off 57 balls, pacing his innings superbly as Chennai chased down a moderate Mumbai total of 147-5, winning with five balls to spare.

Chennai entrenched themselves in second place in the eight-team competition.

JP Duminy was mainly responsible for Mumbai reaching their total. The South African left-hander made 62, his fifth half-century of the tournament, off 54 balls.

It was a familiar tale for Mumbai, with Duminy holding the innings together after the team’s stars, Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar, were dismissed.

Jayasuriya threatened to play a major innings, hitting 30 off 17 balls, before top-edging a catch to point. Tendulkar made 11 before he was caught at deep mid-wicket.

Duminy and Abhishek Nayar (33 not out) put on 65 for the fourth wicket before Duminy was run out, backing up too far, in the final over.

Hayden was unusually cautious at the start of Chennai’s innings. At the mid-innings break he had scored only 15 off 28 balls in a total of 56-2.

Chennai looked in trouble when Subramaniam Badrinath was out in the 11th over but Hayden, partnered by Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, lifted his scoring rate as Chennai won comfortably in the end.

Matthew Hayden and MS Dhoni after winning

Hayden reached his fifth half-century of the campaign with a huge six off Harbhajan Singh which sailed out of the ground beyond mid-wicket.

The Super Kings Captain Dhoni wasn’t too satisfied despite the victory that ensured them a semi-final berth.

“We are committing the same mistakes in fielding. We are committing them in each and every game. If we don’t get it right in the knock-out stage, we would be in for trouble,” the India skipper warned.

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With their inspirational skipper Shane Warne ruled out owing to a hamstring injury, Rajasthan Royals will be a lesser force when they take on in-form Mumbai Indians in a crucial Indian Premier League match on Thursday.

Warne’s hamstring injury means his much-anticipated face-off with Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar, which was prevented by rain the last time, will not happen yet again.

Both the teams are tied on 11 points after 11 games but Mumbai is ahead on net run rate at the fourth spot and Thursday’s match might prove to be crucial in deciding the semifinal spots.

Rajasthan’s current form is not too encouraging and after the team lost to Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers in its last two matches, Warne’s imposing presence would surely be missed by the defending champions.

Mumbai, on the other hand, seems to have recovered from a hat-trick losses and have registered two back-to-back wins over Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab to put their campaign back on track.

The team’s batting looks solid with Tendulkar in sublime form and JP Duminy emerging as the middle order mainstay. Among others, Dwayne Bravo has also been among the runs while Ajinkya Rahane is in sparkling form.

Sanath Jayasuriya’s form, however, remains a concern and Tendulkar would expect the Sri Lankan to wriggle out of the bad patch on Thursday and play his natural, swashbuckling cricket.

Mumbai bowlers are not doing too badly and injured pace spearhead Zaheer Khan’s absence has not been felt much.

Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh have combined to lead the attack well, although the fiery off-spinner has complained that he is not aware of his role in the team.

In comparison, Rajasthan’s batting is too dependent on Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan although Naman Ojha, who was initially sent back, has turned out to be quite a surprise package.

However, the unavailability of pacers Kamran Khan and Amit Singh, both of whom were found guilty of having a suspect action, has taken the bite out of Rajasthan’s bowling attack.

And with Warne, known to surprise the opposition with unconventional and often successful bowling changes, missing from action, it would be interesting to see how Rajasthan react to tight situations in the match.

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Mumbai Indians kept their IPL hopes alive with a commanding eight-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday.

Chasing a total of 120, Mumbai Indians reached the target in just 16.2 overs with Dwayne Bravo blasting an unbeaten 70 off 59 balls and Sachin Tendulkar contributing an unbeaten 41.

The victory brought Mumbai Indians back into the semi-final contention, as they jumped two spots to fourth place in the IPL standings with 11 points from 11 matches.

Kings XI Punjab’s chances of finishing among the top four now looks bleak as they are down to seventh place with 10 points and three matches in hand.

It was a must-win situation for both teams, and Mumbai Indians came out with all guns blazing to steal the show.

Mumbai’s promotion of Dwayne Bravo worked wonders as the West Indian ripped apart the bowlers with clean strikes. He struck seven fours and three sixes.

Brett Lee took out Sanath Jayasuriya before Bravo cut loose in Sreesanth’s only over, which cost 21 runs with two sixes and two fours. Bravo continued in the same vein through the innings.

Piyush Chawla got the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane, but Tendulkar batted around Bravo to see the team through.

Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar played the spin card to perfection to restrict Kings XI to 119-9. His plan was carried out by off-spinners Harbhajan Singh (1-9) and JP Duminy (2-15), who bowled intelligently to bring the downfall of Kings XI batting line-up that had seven left-handers.

Opener Sunny Sohal played a lone hand in Punjab’s innings with a breezy 43 off 23 balls that included three sixes and five fours.

Punjab lost two quick wickets at the top with Simon Katich and Irfan Pathan being dismissed for ducks. Sunny Sohal counter-attacked to bring Punjab back on the track.

Harbhajan came into the attack and soon got the prized wicket of Kumar Sangakkara. Tendulkar quickly tried his options and used as many as eight bowlers to keep Punjab guessing.

Duminy removed dangerous Yuvraj Singh and Ajinkya Rahane. Punjab batsmen were guilty of sloppy running between the wickets with as many as four players, including Sohal, being run-out. It was Karan Goel’s 20 that helped Punjab cross the 100-run mark.

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Mumbai Indians take on Delhi Daredevils for the first time in IPL 2 at Buffalo Park in East London on Friday. The Daredevils would try a different strategy when they take on win-hungry Mumbai Indians, who are eager to bounce back after two straight defeats.

With a new name adorning the number one position after almost every match, the Daredevils, who climbed to the coveted position, would have to up the ante when they take on Sachin Tendulkar’s army for the first time in the tournament.

Delhi have played the least number of matches (seven) but aggregated highest points (10) so far in the eight-team event that has already staged 34 of its 59 matches.

But that Mumbai put up a brave fight against Deccan Chargers on Wednesday is indication enough that it won’t be as easy as their previous match for Daredevils.

Barring a few lapses, Mumbai held their cards for most part in the game of dwindling fortunes.

Mumbai boast of an attacking opening pair of Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, well supported by South African Jean-Paul Duminy in the middle order.

Their bowling looks equally impressive studded with Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo.

However, it remains to be seen if pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who is nursing a shoulder injury, gets fit for the match on Friday.

Among the youngsters, Dhawal Kulkarni and Pinal Shah also impressed with both ball and bat against Deccan Chargers.

But despite the impressive line-up, Mumbai are second from bottom with just three wins from eight matches.

For Delhi, their key batsman Gautam Gambhir, who also stood-in for an injured captain Virender Sehwag, was back among the runs after an indifferent start to the tournament.

Tillakaratne Dilshan also demonstrated his form in their last match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Delhi may consider fielding Glenn McGrath in place of Nannes with Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra and Pradeep Sangwan already doing well for the side.

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A superb unbroken stand between Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa led Bangalore Royal Challengers to a nine-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League clash on Sunday.

After winning the toss at the Wanderers and opting to bat, Mumbai recovered from a poor start to reach 149-4 and in reply, Bangalore made 150-1 with 11 balls to spare.

Kallis got off to a cracking start after fellow opener Wassim Jaffer had fallen early on and although he slowed, still reached his half-century off 39 balls.

Uthappa was even quicker, making his fifty off 36 deliveries.

The pair shared 126 runs for the second wicket with Kallis 69 not out from 59 balls, including five fours and two sixes.

Uthappa was unbeaten on 66, having faced 42 deliveries in an innings that included eight fours and two sixes.

Bangalore seamer Dillon du Preez, who returned with 3-32, got his IPL debut off to a dream start, bagging three wickets before conceding a run.

Coming on at first change, Du Preez removed Sachin Tendulkar and Ajinkya Rahane with successive deliveries in his first over.

And in his next, he had JP Duminy caught behind to leave Mumbai reeling at 23-3 before Sanath Jayasuriya and Dwayne Bravo compiled 60 runs for the fourth wicket to stage a recovery.

Jayasuriya smashed 52 runs from 43 balls with six fours and one six. The Sri Lankan veteran was removed by spinner Roelof van der Merwe in the 15th over, but Abhishek Nayar joined Bravo in an unbroken 66-run stand for the fifth wicket to keep Mumbai in control.

Bravo made 50 not out from 40 deliveries with one boundary and two sixes, and Nayar was unbeaten on 29 off 20 balls.

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Mumbai Indians will look to thwart a resurgent Royal Challengers, who are attempting a late comeback in the Indian Premier League with two wins in a row, at the Wanderers here on Sunday.

Royal Challengers have slowly moved up to fifth place in the standings after beating Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab. They have six points from seven matches.

One of the bottom-placed teams of last year, Challengers started with a big win over defending champions Rajasthan Royals in the first match, but then slumped to four losses before renewing their challenge in Kevin Pietersen’s last IPL match for the season.

The new captain Anil Kumble has brought the Challengers’ luck and they played like a well-knit unit to pull-off a close match against Kings XI Punjab on Friday. Kumble used his resources well while Challengers have to sort out their batting problems which again failed to fire on Friday.

Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa’s lack of form is hurting the team and Jacques Kallis, too, is not in great touch. The lower order is coming under tremendous pressure with wickets falling regularly at the top.

Mumbai Indians’ top-order batting has looked rusty in the last two matches and JP Duminy came to their rescue on both occasions. It was the performance of Duminy and Zaheer Khan that saw the Mumbai team through against Knight Riders, though the Kolkata team came close to beating them.

With Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya in good touch in the tournament, Mumbai certainly would hope its top-order batting gives them a good start against Challengers.

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Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs in their Indian Premier League match on Friday.

A good half century from JP Duminy (52 not out, off 37 balls) and a couple of lower order contributions saw the Mumbai Indians set the Kolkata Knight Riders a competitive target of 149 to win in their IPL match at East London in South Africa.

Earlier, the Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bat in their match against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Unlike earlier matches, the powerful opening pair of Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya failed to click and the latter was out for 6. With Tendulkar (34 off 30 balls) too leaving at the score of 54 for 3, the Indians seemed to struggle to reach a fair score. JP Duminy’s innings, supported by Graham Napier (15), Ajinkya Rahane (10) and Abhishek Nayar (10) saw the Mumbaikars reach 148 for 6 in 20 overs.

With nothing to lose, and languishing at the bottom of the table, Kolkata has to win this match if they are to keep in touch with any faint hopes they may have to qualify for the semi finals.

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