IPL THREE : Sachin rules in Sehwag backyard

Little master guides MI to big victory in Delhi on Wednesday. They achieve an emphatic 98-run victory over Delhi Daredevils at the Kotla Stadium.

Captain Sachin Tendulkar scored a 23-ball fifty --- the fastest by a Mumbai batsman in the IPL --- after which young left-hander S Tiwary scored his second successive fifty, taking Mumbai to 218-6.

Mumbai's score is the highest yet in the tournament, and a successful chase would have been a new IPL record. Delhi folded up for 120 in the 17th over, but they'd run out of steam after the opening pair of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virender Sehwag failed.

Worse for Delhi, their captain Gautam Gambhir did not bat due to a hamstring injury.

Tendulkar carved Delhi for 11 fours in a 32-ball knock in which he scored 63. After a quick 38-run start with Sanath Jayasuriya, the Mumbai captain dominated the first half of the innings, setting the platform for Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu, who impressed again in his 21-ball 34 in IPL THREE.

Tiwary, the long-haired dasher from Jamshedpur, followed up his 30-ball fifty against Rajasthan with a 31-ball fifty here.

Much like their explosive partnership at the Brabourne Stadium, Rayudu and Tiwary added 71 at over ten runs an over. It was the difference between Mumbai making a good score and an impregnable one.

Mumbai Indians 218 for 7 (Tendulkar 63, Tiwary 61) beat Delhi Daredevils 120 for 9 (Bravo 2-11, Jayasuriya 2-17) by 98 runs

Player of the match SR Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians)