NewsBreakingOnline

• Hit F5 or press the auto-refresh button for the latest news • Email your Warne memories to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Read this delightful extract from The Spin • Read Mike Selvey’s lovely tribute to Warne • Buy Rob’s book, if you wish 5th over: Rajasthan Royals 37-0 (target 134; Watson 31, Dravid 5) The right-arm seamer Dhawal Kulkarni replaces Patel. There’s a shocking piece of running from the fourth ball, and Watson would have been run out by a mile had Harbhajan’s throw from near mid on either hit the stumps or gone into the keeper’s gloves. Instead Harbhajan yorked the keeper and the ball flew to short third man, which gave Watson time to get back. Five from the over. “On the topic of Warne, he was the reason I started watching cricket,” says Phil Sawyer. “I was a young, angry (well, slightly irritated) punk at the time, and thought cricket was a toff’s game. Then my sister pursuaded me to watch the first Test in the 1993 Ashes and he instantly mesmerised not only the English batting line up but me as well. So as well as thanking him for all the years of genius he’s treated us to (and even the years of pain he’s subjected us English supporters to), I must thank him for getting me hooked on the greatest sport in the world. Thanks, Shane.” I didn’t realise until earlier today that Warne also bowled against England on the 1990-91 tour. No prizes for guessing which poor bugger he dismissed . 4th over: Rajasthan Royals 32-0 (target 134; Watson 28, Dravid 3) Here’s Lasith Malinga, the tournament’s top wicket-taker by a formidable distance (he has 27; the next best is Munaf Patel with 17). Watson gets his off drive right this time, slamming it to the left of Malinga and away for four. Shot! Malinga’s response is a wonderful bouncer that smashes into the helmet. Watson, beaten for pace, had nowhere to go because the line was so good and tried to jerk his head away at the last minute, but it was too late and clattered into the grille. That was a storming delivery, and when Malinga digs in another short ball the unsettled Watson pulls it just over mid on for four. Terrific stuff. 3rd over: Rajasthan Royals 24-0 (target 134; Watson 20, Dravid 3) Just four singles from Patel’s over. Watson plays a couple of handsome off-drivers, but both go straight to mid off. That’s his weakness in Test cricket, not finding the gaps. Placement is a bit underrated in cricket. Who have been the great placers of the ball? I tend not to notice them, with the exception of Eoin Morgan. “Farewell performances are often such sad anticlimaxes,” says Rene Kita. “I remember watching the last game of Wayne Gretsky, ice hockey’s Bradman, and I came away thinking that Jaromir Jagr is God. I expect Malinga to do the same in this game. I’ve loved watching Malinga, but the most hilarious moment in this IPL was when Vinay Kumar bowled Chris Gayle with a precisely copied Malinga slinger. It’s great to finally SEE cricket even on a tiny screen instead of just reading about it. Now I know what a reverse sweep looks like and why you kept complaining about England’s use of it ca. 2006-2008. Looks really silly when it doesn’t come off.” Did I complain about it? I don’t mind the reverse sweep. I suppose I was a different man back then: younger, more hirsute, more sexual . And less tolerant of the reverse sweep, apparently. 2nd over: Rajasthan Royals 20-0 (target 134; Watson 18, Dravid 1) Harbhajan shares the new ball, and Watson flaps his third ball over midwicket for a huge six. That was an awesome shot because he didn’t hit it that hard; there was just a quick snap of wrists and the ball went flying. The next delivery brings a pretty big LBW shout when Watson pushes around his front pad, but there is a bit of doubt over both height and line so Paul Reiffel says not out. Harbhajan’s next ball is a stinker, far too short and hoicked over midwicket for six more. “I was at Trent Bridge in 2005 on day three,” says David Weston. “I had been looking forward to seeing Warney play. Wanted to be able to tell my grandkids I saw him weave his magic. I never got to see him bowl a ball, but I did get to see him play. He was out first ball to a short one from Simon Jonesl! Magic! Of course the Aussies then suffered the humiliation of having to follow on for the first time in a gazillion years! GLORY! Of course, the Aussies were slow to realise that they were facing the best bowling attack in the world. Fortunately for the Aussies sitting near me, I was on hand to tell them all about it. At length. I even had my Mum with me. How could things be better?” If you’d been playing the Goon of Fortune ? 1st over: Rajasthan Royals 8-0 (target 134; Watson 6, Dravid 1) This isn’t all about Shane Warne. It’s a very important game from Mumbai, who need to win one of their last two games to be sure of reaching the knockout stage. Munaf Patel gets them off to a poor start in the field: the first ball is a wide and the second is tickled off the pads for four by Shane Watson. A few singles complete a good over for Rajasthan. “I actually cheered when Warne took that wicket,” says Nath Jones, “and I’m pretty sure it’s the first time that I’ve been bothered enough about the IPL to do so.” INNINGS BREAK 20th over: Mumbai Indians 133-5 (Franklin 11, Harbhajan 1) Harbhajan pushes the penultimate ball to long on for a single. So Warne’s last ball will be to James Franklin. He takes it all in, eyes ablaze; then has a chat with Rahul Dravid to build the tension (“what are you having for tea tonight, mate?”), makes one fielding change for the road, trots in one last time – and his last ball is a full toss! Of all the things. Franklin bashes it down the ground for a single, and Warne ends with figures of 4-0-30-1. He shakes his team-mates’ hands on the way off, and the Mumbai Indians’ fielding coach Jonty Rhodes runs on to congratulate him. That’s a nice touch. The team want Warne to lead them off, but he’s having none of that. So that’s it. Crikey, we’ll never see Shane Warne bowl again. Still, we have 20 years of memories. Onyer, mate. WICKET! Mumbai Indians 131-5 (Sharma st Shah b Warne 58) Here we go. The first ball of Shane Warne’s final over… and Sharma is dropped! Who writes your effing scripts? Sharma smashes Warne high to long on, where Menaria drops a sitter. Then Warne treats us a rare googly; it turns a long way, and Franklin toe-ends it just over the head of the man at cover and away for four. Franklin pulls the third ball for a single… and then Warne gets his wicket! Sharma charged down the track, was beaten in the flight, and even let the bat slip out of his hand as he aimed a monstrous yahoo to leg. In fact the bat went miles. As dismissals, go, that was pretty emphatic: stumped while halfway down the track and with no bat in your hand. Warne has stripped many a batsman naked down tuhe years, but never quite like that, 19th over: Mumbai Indians 125-4 (Sharma 57, Franklin 5) It’ll be Botha to bowl the penultimate over, which means Warne is saving himself for last. Botha concedes only three singles from the first five balls, but then James Franklin blasts an excellent drive wide of long-off for four. And now, ladies and germs, it’s time for Shane Warne’s final over. “Well, it’s the end of an era isn’t it?” says Guy Hornsby. “I still get flashbacks to THAT ball, but probably not as many as Gatting does. What an entrance, and what’s even more impressive is that, unlike many other bright young upstarts before him, he really was the real deal. So many prospective greats that flashed then died out, but this man has been relentless over his whole career, seemingly able sometimes to get wickets by sheer force of will and an icy stare. He may have the social skills of an average bogan, and the teeth like a Ready Brek kid, but I’ll miss him. Baaawlinwaaaarrnnneeyyyy. (acutally, I won’t miss THAT).” 18th over: Mumbai Indians 118-4 (Sharma 55, Franklin 0) Watson ends with outstanding figures of 4-0-19-3. Remember he was seen as a bit of a joke cricketer? He certainly isn’t now. He is such an impressive cricketer, a shoo-in for a world one-day XI. WICKET! Mumbai Indians 118-4 (Pollard b Watson 20) A superb, boundaryless over from Shane Watson ends with a vital wicket when Pollard drags on an attempted drive. 17th over: Mumbai Indians 111-3 (Sharma 52, Pollard 18) Another spin bowler is on, the young left-armer Ashok Menaria. Pollard slices his second ball a trillion miles in the air, and Taylor fails to get his hands on a very difficult, swirling chance running back from cover. Having been reprieved, Pollard strikes the next two balls for four, a vicious smear down the ground and then a scorching drive through extra cover. Brutal. “Could I just thank (really REALLY thank) whoever forgot to invite a key inidividual to the aforementioned meeting (2nd over) meaning the meeting got cancelled and I’ve been able to leg it home in record time,” says Phil Sawyer. “The last time I moved that fast was when Millings invited me to join him in a male bonding session.” 16th over: Mumbai Indians 99-3 (Sharma 51, Pollard 7) Warne is back. He will enjoy the challenge of bowling to Kieron Pollard. I wonder if there’s a challenge he didn’t enjoy, and whether he ever felt cowed on a cricket field. Bowling to Tendulkar and Laxman, maybe, but then in Warne’s head the next wicket was always round the corner, even when the score was 971 for two. Warne’s first ball to Pollard is a grotesque long hop that Pollard blitzes this far wide of the non-striker Sharma’s face. It goes for a single, and Sharma cuts the next ball for four to bring up a superb half-century from only 36 balls. Just five singles from an excellent over. Warne has six balls left. 15th over: Mumbai Indians 94-3 (Sharma 48, Pollard 5) Another gorgeous stroke from Sharma. He gave himself loads of room outside leg, so Botha followed him, but Sharma was still able to flash the ball through extra cover for four. Nine from the over. “Very canny of Warne to have his own ending staged a day before the world ends,” says Ian Copestake. “If tomorrow is the Day of Rapture (go figure) then let today be the Day of Rippers.” 14th over: Mumbai Indians 85-3 (Sharma 41, Pollard 3) Rohit Sharma is the only man who has looked comfortable thus far, and he cuts Singh’s slower ball expertly wide of short third man for four. Two balls later, when Singh pitches short, Sharma pings a mighty six over square leg when Singh pitches short. That was a stunning shot, a dramatic whirl of the arms that sent the ball flying over the rope. Sharma has 41 from 30 balls; the rest have 41 from 54 between them. “Just wanted to add to the army of fans out there who will miss dear Warnie,” says Clare Davies. “And is it true that his teeth can be seen from outer space?” 13th over: Mumbai Indians 70-3 (Sharma 28, Pollard 1) Warne has replaced himself with Botha. Four from the over. In other news, remember how depressing it was, back in the day, when England were always duffed up by Australia A? The reverse is happening now . “I did have some memories of Warney,” says Luke Dealtry, “but then I saw this picture from yesterday , and they all seem to have disappeared. What is he?” He’s Shane Warne. That’s his job. 12th over: Mumbai Indians 66-3 (Sharma 26, Pollard 0) “Since I came into cricket only a couple of years ago, my memories of Warne are Portrait-of-Dorian-Grey-ish,” says Sara Torvalds. “One moment he is bowling that ball to Gatting, a single YouTube-click later he is, well, not quite so young or well-trained, nor quite as natural in colour; a very colourful carreer strangely compressed into one afternoon of googling.” WICKET! Mumbai Indians 65-3 (Tendulkar c Watson b Singh 31) Tendulkar has gone, caught at third man. He tried to uppercut a short ball from the new bowler Amit Singh and could only slice it straight to Shane Watson. For a couple of seconds, Mumbai is almost silent. That was an odd innings from Tendulkar, who could have been out of a few times. But on this awkward pitch, those 31 runs are vital. 11th over: Mumbai Indians 61-2 (Tendulkar 27, Sharma 25) A lucky escape for Tendulkar, who tries to pull Warne over midwicket and ends up clumping it back over the bowler’s head. The next ball is a beautiful slider, but Tendulkar’s hands are so fast and he manages to glide it to third man for two. Almost every other batsmen in the world would have been pinned in front. Warne is really enjoying himself, going through all the variations. The next ball is much slower, flighted invitingly; Tendulkar thinks about the big shot and then decides against it, defending respectfully to extra cover. Wonderful stuff. 10th over: Mumbai Indians 55-2 (Tendulkar 22, Sharma 24) Johan Botha replaces Trivedi and sneaks through a good over at a cost of just four singles. Tendulkar charged down the pitch to the last ball, but yorked himself in the process and just managed to squeeze an inside edge to short fine leg. Had he not done so he would have been stumped by a mile. “I was always amazed at Warne’s ability to contribute to a win,” says Gary Naylor. “Of his 145 Tests, he walked off a winner 92 times and lost only 26, some of which must have been dead rubbers. In his 194 ODIs, he was a winner 124 times, losing 65. How many times did the voice in his head tell him that he needed to make something happen and then he did just that? Because cricket is an individual challenge within a team framework, that ability is priceless – and nobody in the history of the game made more things happen than Warne. And if he had held that catch at The Oval in 2005, well…” The best example of that was the 1999 semi-final. Because of the finish, we sometimes forget Warne’s astonishing spell at a time when South Africa were cruising. 9th over: Mumbai Indians 51-2 (Tendulkar 20, Sharma 22) This is what we wanted: Warne bowling to Tendulkar. Warne drives his fingers through his hair, stops to think for a moment, trots in and bowls a very full delivery that Tendulkar squirts for a single. Warne fiddles with his field, doing what his instinct tells him, and is then worked into the leg side for consecutive twos by Sharma. Warne looks great. He has lost so much weight. He’s a great advert for dating one of the world’s most beautiful women. Or maybe he went on the Slim-Fast plan, like Barry Bethall. Later in the over he draws a leading edge from Tendulkar, which drifts just short of the man at short cover, and then Sharma clatters the last delivery through extra cover for four. An expensive over from Warne, 11 from it. 8th over: Mumbai Indians 40-2 (Tendulkar 18, Sharma 13) The right-arm seamer Siddharth Trivedi replaces Watson, and his fifth is cut crisply for four by Tendulkar. Beautiful stroke. Nine from the over. “Greetings from Brisbane where I’m about to start a 30 hour marathon home,” says Andrew Stroud. “Apart from Adelaide, stepping on his stumps at Edgbaston in 2005 is one memory, as is his running across the field to shake KP’s hand at the Oval after that century. A greatly feared opponent who will be sorely missed.” 7th over: Mumbai Indians 31-2 (Tendulkar 10, Sharma 12) Tendulkar survives another huge shout for LBW by Chavan. That almost looked extremely closed. Tendulkar rocked back and essayed a huge pull stroke, only to miss it completely, and Hawkeye suggested it would have hit a big portion of leg stump. It wasn’t as plumb as the first one, but it was still out. It looks like P.Satish Kumar was right. Tendulkar is all over the place. I bet he comes alive as soon as Warne comes on. Actually, in tribute to Warne, we should probably have asked you to text rather than email comments, shouldn’t we? Anyway. “Sorry, is Paul Reiffel, one time international team mate of Shane Warne, umpiring the game?” says Paul Wakefield. “Hardly seems fair.” You think that’s bad? The other umpire is Liz Hurley. 6th over: Mumbai Indians 26-2 (Tendulkar 9, Sharma 8) Danny Morrison persists with calling Sunil Gavaskar “Sunny G”, which makes him sound like some weird cross between a very, very, very, very, very orange drink and a long-haired smooth jazz saxophonist. Tendulkar has changed his bat; in the World Cup at least, that was about as ominous as when Gordon Greenidge started limping. He takes a single in that Watson over, and then Sharma slams a full delivery disdainfully over midwicket for a one-bounce four. “Warne has been brilliant in the IPL,” says P.Satish Kumar. “He has lit up the IPL like no other foreign player ever has. It is indeed sad to see him go. We Indians of course cannot be so over awed of his Test bowling mainly because his record against India has been generally modest but his impact on cricket is unquestionable. A true genius!! And Tendulkar was not given not out as per Law 74a. He was given not out as per Law 77a.sub-section.1.para-2: You never ever ever ever deny the viewing public a Tendulkar-Warne contest in Warne’s last game.” 5th over: Mumbai Indians 20-2 (Tendulkar 8, Sharma 3) Chavan continues, and the new batsman Rohit Sharma works him for a couple to get off the mark, and then Tendulkar is beaten by another jaffa that spits pitches on off stump and spits past the edge. This has been an excellent start for Rajasthan, who hammered Mumbai earlier in the tournament . 4th over: Mumbai Indians 17-2 (Tendulkar 8, Sharma 0) They’ve just shown an ING Direct advert, with Bumble doing the voice over! Brilliant. Bumble’s eccentric commentary cousin, Danny Morrison, is now in the box, and he starts by saying “Hello Sunny G”. I think I’m a little obsessed with Danny Morrison, and particuarly the way he ran domly em phasises parts of words you don’t ex pect . Just three singles from Watson’s second over. “Don’t forget Kevin Bloody Wilson’s tribute, ,” says Lord Selvey. WICKET! Mumbai Indians 17-2 (Rayudu c Taylor b Watson 2) Another one gone. Rayudu gets a leading edge towards cover, and Taylor runs back from the edge of the circle to take an excellent leaping catch. 3rd over: Mumbai Indians 14-1 (Tendulkar 7, Rayudu 1) Tendulkar is beaten by a peach from Chavan that turns sharply. Warne will enjoy bowling on this pitch. He’s currently talking about sledging Tendulkar. “We tried it in the mid-90s and he got about nine hundreds in a row, so I decided to befriend him.” Tendulkar gets his first boundary next ball, sweeping emphatically to deep backward square for a one-bounce four. “Some friends I’ve invented and I went to see the new leggy we’d heard about at a warm-up game on the Ball of the Century tour in ’93, and came away thinking he wasn’t up to much, because he’d just bowled stock leg-break after stock leg-break,” says Mac Millings. “Turned out he’d been keeping a few tricks up his sleeve. (The request was for Warne memories, not interesting Warne memories.) Hick mangled him in one of those games, didn’t he? 2nd over: Mumbai Indians 7-1 (Tendulkar 1, Rayudu 0) Warne’s in great form, chatting away to the commentators between deliveries but snapping right into focus for each ball. “Could I just thank whoever decided 4pm on a Friday afternoon was the ideal time for a meeting about exchange students, meaning that I’m going to miss Shane Warne’s last ever bloody match even though it’s available on free-to-air tv?” says Phil Sawyer. “Right, spleen vented. For now.” 1st over: Mumbai Indians 2-0 (Suman 1, Tendulkar 1) The slow left-armer Ankeet Chavan opens the bowling, and his first ball to Sachin Tendulkar brings a huge LBW shout that is turned down by Paul Reiffel. What was wrong with that?! The ball straightened sharply to hit the pad as Tendulkar missed a work to leg, and replays show it would have hit middle stump halfway up. Maybe Reiffel invoked the little-known Law 74a: never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give Sachin Tendulkar out for a golden duck in India. “I’ve only seen Shane play once in the flesh: a one-day game for Hampshire,” says Matthew Brown. “He didn’t do anything spectacular with the ball, but I do remember one moment when he was fielding at slip. An ‘edge’ was taken, everyone appealed, and the umpire turned it down. The crowd booed mildly. And then, floating across the ground in an Aussie accent, everyone clearly heard the words: ‘We’ll get you next time, you bastard’.” Why was the umpire saying that? 3.28pm “Since you mentioned Simon Hughes, ” begins Ravi Nair. “May I ask if the delightful Isa Guha is also on the panel for ITV 4? It will make me run home the quicker.” The Guardian ‘s Isa Guha is not, I’m afraid, but this man is among the commentary team . That’s a good consolation, right? Oh. Now, if you have some spare cash and are not sure what to do with it, these are my bank details , you could do worse than sponsor my colleague Steph Fincham, who is riding through Sri Lanka in support of the Mines Advisory Group. Talking of bikes, I recorded a video of my morning BMX ride. What do you think ? Mumbai Indians have won the toss and will bat first. Mumbai Indians Franklin, Tendulkar (c), Rayudu (wk), Sharma, Pollard, Symonds, Suman, Kulkarni, Harbhajan, Patel, Malinga. Rajasthan Royals Watson, Dravid, Botha, Menaria, Rahane, Taylor, Shah (wk), Chavan, Warne (c), Singh, Trivedi. 3.05pm A nice description on ITV4 from Simon Hughes, who describes Warne as “cricket’s greatest conman”. And, as Graeme Hick says, it was almost impossible to play the ball rather than the man. Here’s a famous example of that, Nasser being sledged out in 1998-99 . 2.58pm Thanks to Andy Bradshaw for this link. Will you be Raptured ? 2.51pm ” You have to put a link to The Duckworth Lewis Method’s Jiggery Pokery ,” says John Stonestreet. “Just a perfect song inspired by that one very special delivery. Personally, my main memory of Warne’s bowling is actually Gilchrist after each delivery. ‘Aaww, wheeeel barlwed Shoine’ – sounded like a cat being strangled. This is a video I’ve wanted to see for years: the short spell in Colombo in 1992 that changed Shane Warne’s life. Australia, who trailed by nearly 300 on first innings, pulled off one of the great Test victories. If you’re not familiar with this staggering match, lose yourself in it quicksmart . Warne, who had a Test bowling average of 335 (!) after that first innings, took three quick wickets to win the match. Two Tests later he skittled West Indies with a second-innings seven-for, including that legendary flipper to Richie Richardson , and a star was born. A Warne memory from Harkarn Sumal “I had the dubious privilege of sitting in the Radcliffe Road End at Trent Bridge in 2005 on the fourth and final day of the fourth Test as England chased 130-odd to go 2-1 up in the series. The combination of my all-time biggest hangover (having been drunk to a standstill the previous night by my pal Becky in a game involving Connect 4 and Captain Morgan’s rum) and Warne’s mesmerising, strangulating, stifling, bullying spell – which nearly caused an ‘Adelaide’ before ‘Adelaides’ were even a recognised concept – left me feeling pretty much as uncomfortable as I ever have in my entire life. My memory may be playing tricks now, but I’m sure he had figures of 3-2-1-3 at one point. He certainly ended with figures of 13.5-2-31-4. It was horrible. And yet it was beautiful. The man is truly a dirty angel. Fair play to him for going out on his own terms, making bags of cash and getting a showbiz IPL stage on which he could muck about. I won’t say he was ‘class’, but he was certainly something else.” Lovely stuff, especially the phrase “dirty angel”. I’ve just had a look through the OBO of that run chase . Warne really could induce the sweetest terror. What’s your favourite Warne memory? Here are a few of his own, including that innocuous loosener to Mike Gatting in 1993. Preamble Hello. This is it, then. After 20 years, 1850 wickets, 3502 tweets , one costly diuretic and at least one comedy inflatable , Shane Warne will bowl his last ball in top-level cricket today. It is blithely said of all good and great sportsmen when they retire, yet with Warne we really can say that we will never see the like again. His Rajasthan Royals side cannot make the knockout stage of the IPL, but their opponents Mumbai Indians need a win from either of their final two games to confirm a place in the last four. Their captain is Sachin Tendulkar, one of the few players to master Warne . Even Rajasthan fans might be praying that Tendulkar does not fall to the new ball, just so we can see him face Warne one last time. Warne has never been a friend of authority, and there is something perversely appropriate about the fact that he is in the doghouse ahead of his last game. He won’t care. One of the things that defines Warne is the fact that, more than any other sportsman I can think of, he could not give a solitary one what anyone thinks. He will carry on doing what he likes, usually with that irresistible, rascally charm, and we’ll carry on watching. In an age of sporting automata he has been an old-fashioned superstar, warts and all. The main reason we love him, of course, is that he revived one of sport’s most beautiful arts. Not only did Warne revive leg spin, he also redefined it, taking its intrinsic element of deception to unimaginable levels. Watching him ease into a spell, working over the batsmen and the umpire, was the purest theatre. There has never been a better rogue psychologist than Warne – who, as we saw in The Miracle of Adelaide , could send batsmen round the bend at the thought of demons that didn’t even exist. There were plenty of live demons, too. Warne had all manner of deliveries; even if this wrong’un never really did master the wrong’un, there was still the flipper, the topspinner, the slider, the drifter, the zooter, the rooter, the tooter – not to mention hundreds of barely perceptible variations on his stock leggie. We won’t see them all today, as he has just 24 balls left to bowl. Cherish every single one. The game starts at 3.30pm . Shane Warne Cricket IPL Over by over reports Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk