Mumbai Indians won their second Indian Premier league title, outclassing the formidable Chennai Super Kings in all departments at a packed Eden Gardens by 41 runs.
Mumbai Indians looked in control of the match from the moment their skipper Rohit Sharma smashed Mohit Sharma for 16 runs in the second over of the match to nullify the effect of an early wicket. It followed by a 119-run partnership between Rohit and lendl Simmons that helped Mumbai set up a daunting target of 203 runs for Chennai.
Then their bowlers bowled such a restricting line that even the usually hard-hitting Dwayne Smith (57 off 48 balls) scored at just above run-a-ball when the asking rate from the ball one was above 10-an-over.
Chennai managed to conserve wickets in the first 10 overs but as the asking rate approached the 15-run mark, the pressure broke their resilience and wickets started to fall in quick succession.
Dhoni, among the best short-format finishers in the world, promoted himself up in the hope of rescuing his team but he too found it difficult to collect boundaries off the Mumbai bowling.
Rohit-Simmons stand
Electing to field first, CSK were helped to a good start by Faf du Plessis’ brilliant ‘in-the-air, back-hand’ throw that dismissed Parthiv Patel in the very first over. Nehra also bowled a disciplined line to give only one run in that over. MI were 1 for 1. Dhoni couldn’t have asked for a better start in the Final.
But if CSK were nurturing any feelings that they had taken the upper-hand in the match, it took Rohit only an upper-cut, a late-cut and a cover-drive – all in one over – to let them know that ‘picture abhi baki hai (film is yet to be finished)’. The next 10 overs seemed like a film only as Rohit (50) and lendl Simmons (68) hit CSK bowlers all around the ground.
Rohit, who has a double hundred at the Eden, looked in ominous touch on Sunday. Simmons was also scoring rapidly from the other end but Rohit was batting in a different zone. The only ball that he didn’t time well was the one that dismissed him on the last ball of the 12th over – right after completing his fifty – ending the 119-run partnership. In the innings that lasted 26 balls, Rohit hit eight boundaries (two of them went over the rope) – a boundary on every third ball.
You call it master stroke or plain luck but Dhoni often comes up with a strategy that seems illogical from outside. And you can’t stop yourself from marveling his audacity when the move pays off well enough to have the game-changing effect.
The Rohit-Simmons partnership was just broken and it was a good chance for CSK to pull the game back. Dhoni threw the ball to Steve Smith! The gentle-medium that this West Indian bowls is no way near dangerous. Smith jogged in and bowled an innocuous looking ball that threatened to be a full-toss. However, by the time it reached the batting crease, it dipped a bit and turned into a yorker. Simmons, who was already committed to play the shot, failed to bring his bat down on time and followed his partner to the dressing room.
Two wickets in two balls was an idle break from the relentless hitting and big partnership but CSK probably didn’t know that the next two batsmen would be playing equally dangerous innings. Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu added another 71 runs in just 6.4 overs to give the Mumbai score a push that would take it past 200 – a total that can never be easy to chase.
Flat pitch
Dhoni decided to chase keeping in mind the dew that could hamper his spinners later in the evening. But Mumbai batsmen came up with such a dominating performance that Chennai’s spin-trio looked completely ineffective on the flat pitch that Eden Gardens offered.
But what hurt the Super Kings the most was their ineffective batting that never seemed comfortable against Mumbai bowlers. The pitch that looked so easy to play the shots in the first innings, looked completely different when CSK batsmen were batting