The Mumbai Indians’(MI) fairytale journey continued as they booked their berth in the Pepsi IPL 2015 Finals after defeating the Chennai Super Kings by 25 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai yesterday. After posting 187-6, MI struck at regular intervals, eventually dismissing CSK for 162 in the penultimate over of the innings.
After opting to bat first on a flat batting surface at the Wankhede Stadium, the Mumbai Indians openers gave their team a fantastic platform. Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel added 90 runs batting past the halfway stage. The former batted out several dot deliveries, but also struck two boundaries and three sixes before the field restrictions were eased. The left-handed Parthiv scored a run-a-ball 12 in that period as MI were well-placed at 48 for no loss after six overs.
Simmons consolidated after the initial burst and brought up his half-century in the 10th over, needing 39 balls to get to the milestone. Just past the halfway mark, CSK struck for the first time when Dwayne Bravo had Parthiv Patel caught at long on. The left-hander made 35 from 25 balls and struck four boundaries and a six. Simmons perished in the 14th over when he threw his bat at a wide delivery from Ravindra Jadeja and Pawan Negi ran in from the cover boundary and took a sharp catch. The opener made 65 from 51 balls (25 of which were dot deliveries) and hit three fours and five sixes, finishing as the innings top-scorer eventually.
After the start they had, MI looked good to post a total in excess of 200. But two quiet overs – the 16th over bowled by Bravo and the 17th over bowled by Ashish Nehra – which fetched only six runs meant the hosts lost a bit of momentum towards the end. But Kieron Pollard exploded in the final stretch to ensure MI finished their innings on a high. The Trinidadian hit one four and five sixes, racing to 41 from 17 balls, before he was dismissed with two balls remaining to be bowled in the innings. After 46 runs were scored in the final three overs of the innings MI finished their 20 overs at a respectable 187-6.
For CSK, Ashish Nehra was the pick of the bowlers. The left-arm pacer bowled his four overs for 28 runs while also picking up the wicket of Hardik Pandya. Bravo was the most successful bowler, returning figures of three for 40 from his four overs and taking his tally of wickets in the season to 23 wickets. Ravindra Jadeja (1-18) and Mohit Sharma (1-33) were the other wicket-takers for the visitors.
Needing to score at more than nine runs an over, CSK were pushed on the backfoot in the very first over when Lasith Malinga trapped Dwayne Smith lbw without a run on the board. Michael Hussey and Faf du Plessis put the innings back on track adding 46 runs before the former feathered a Vinay Kumar delivery to the wicket-keeper.
Suresh Raina, who was expected to be the mainstay of the CSK batting order, was pushed to number four in the batting order. The left-hander struck two sixes – one each off R Vinay Kumar and Suresh Raina – and added 40 runs in five overs, before he handed Harbhajan Singh a return catch in the 11th over. He made 25 from 20 balls.
The first ball dismissal of MS Dhoni, lbw to Harbhajan Singh, immediately after Raina was dismissed turned the tide decisively in favour of MI. Faf du Plessis made 45, which included five fours and a six, before he didn’t connect an attempted hit over long on and holed out to Vinay Kumar at the boundary. When a sharp piece of work on the field by Parthiv Patel ran out Dwayne Bravo (20 from 15 balls), MI had the match tightly in their grip.
Ravindra Jadeja (19 from 10 balls) and R Ashwin (23 from 12 balls) wielded their willow to good effect, but the task in front of them was just too big for them to accomplish. CSK were bowled out for the first time in the season when Ashish Nehra held out to Lendl Simmons of the final delivery of the 19th over.
For MI, the wickets were shared around five bowlers; Lasith Malinga was the most successful bowler retuning with figures of three for 23. But it was Harbhajan Singh’s twin strikes – those of Raina and Dhoni – in the 11th over that sealed the deal for the hosts. Vinay Kumar (2-26) Mitchell McClenaghan and J Suchith were the other wicket-takers for the home side.(IPL Website)
