Be it any form of cricket, there is no stopping Sachin Tendulkar.
The master batsman displayed vintage touch as he smashed 63 from 32 deliveries, inclusive of 11 boundaries, against Delhi Daredevils, in the Indian Premier League match at the Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday.
Tendulkar provided the perfect platform for Mumbai Indians, who went to amass a massive 218 for seven in their 20 overs, the highest total in this year's tournament.
Buoyed by the huge total, the bowlers came up with a splendid performance to bundle out Daredevils for 120 in 16.3 overs for a crushing 98-run victory that took Mumbai to the top of the IPL standings.
Tendulkar started with a boundary off the first delivery he faced, from Dirk Nannes. Thereafter he found the gaps at will for boundaries and ensured Mumbai Indians made most of the first six overs of Powerplay, even as Sanath Jayasuriya failed get going at the other end.
By the end of the fourth over, the master batsman had hit as many as seven boundaries for 35 from 14 balls, the team total reading 46 for one.
It took him another few overs to race to his half-century from a mere 23 deliveries, the fastest fifty by a Mumbai Indians' batsman.
He finally fell in the 11th over when he holed Amit Mishra to the long-off fielder. But, by then, the damage had already been done.
Saurabh Tiwary matched Tendulkar's heroics with a quickfire 61 from 37 deliveries, making sure that Delhi never got a chance to stage a comeback.
Tendulkar is in the form of his life. The last 12 months have seen him go past several milestones. If his purple patch continues, it will be hard to beat the Mumbai side.
