Fears for Andrew Flintoff As He Ends Ipl Debut With Ankle on Ice

Andrew Flintoff ended his IPL debut with his ankle wrapped in ice, as he watched his Chennai Super Kings fall 20 runs short of victory against Mumbai Indians.

Flintoff and Chennai began the game well in the field, taking the wicket of Mumbai's opening batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya in the sixth over, with the score 39-1. But Sachin Tendulkar played sensibly for Mumbai, guiding them through carefully on a day when rain threatened to affect the match. In fact it wasn't rain, but a stray dog which provided the only interruption to the game. The dog wandered on to the Cape Town pitch shortly after Jayasuriya's wicket, and the bemused fielders, Flintoff included, of the Chennai side were left watching a peculiar circus as the dog evaded capture for six or seven minutes.

One smart member of staff eventually brought something tasty enough that the dog was tempted off the pitch, and play resumed. Flintoff made a good start with the ball, in spite of a chance dropped by Matthew Hayden at slip. But it was his third over which proved costly and perhaps crucial for his team.

The 18th over of Mumbai's innings went for 22 runs, with Abhishek Nayar hitting Flintoff for three sixes over the leg side. In spite of a tight final over, Flintoff ended with figures of 44-1 from his four as Mumbai reached 165, lead by Tendulkar's stunning innings of 57 not out from 49 deliveries.

In reply, Chennai were 0-1 after Lasith Malinga took a wicket with the second ball of the innings, that of Parthiv Patel. Flintoff came in at number four, and didn't have to wait long. Dwayne Bravo dismissed Suresh Raina in the third over and Chennai were 18-2. In spite of his poor record with the bat in this form of the game, Flintoff acquitted himself well, and struck 23 from 22 balls. He fell a little prematurely, certainly for Chennai's purposes, and in fairly typical fashion attempting a pull from a good length ball, but only popping the ball upwards and into the hands of extra cover.

While his side attempted to rally, with Matthew Hayden contributing 44, Chennai never recovered from a sluggish start and were 20 runs short, seven wickets down at the end of play, by which time Flintoff had ice and strapping on what may be another ankle injury.