Mumbai Indians won Second IPL Title

Chennai Super Kings faltered in an IPL final for the fourth time as they went down to Mumbai Indians by 41 runs in the summit clash at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. MI thus joined Kolkata Knight Riders and CSK to become the third team to win the IPL twice.

CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni should cop much of the blame for this defeat. The most successful Indian captain in limited overs cricket read the Eden Gardens pitch horribly wrong and handed MI the advantage by opting to bowl first after winning the toss.

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On a pitch where the ball came on to the bat nicely, MI batsmen accepted the invitation gleefully and powered their way to 202 for five, the second highest total in an IPL final. Chasing such a huge total in a final match was always going to be difficult and even the six-time finalists came under pressure after managing just 31 runs in the Powerplay overs (first 6) losing opener Michael Hussey (4) in the process.

Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina added 66 runs for the second wicket, but once both departed in quick succession, the writing was on the wall for the Yellow Brigade. In the end CSK laboured to 161/8 in their 20 overs, falling short by 41 runs in what turned out to be one-sided final. Both Rohit Sharma and Harbhajan Singh continued their love affair with Eden Gardens with the MI skipper hitting a 25-ball 50 (6×4, 2×6) and Bhajji finishing with 2 for 34.

Earlier, Rohit and Lendl Simmons feasted on some ordinary bowling by the CSK after opener Parthiv Patel was spectacularly run out by Faf du Plessis on the fifth ball of the match. But for left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra, who conceded just 18 runs in his first three overs, all others went for plenty in their opening spells. Dhoni had no choice but to fall back on his main spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, as early as the third over. But the lanky off-spinner hardly made any impact and ended up conceding 12 runs in his first over.

On a pitch where the ball was not gripping the surface, the spinners were rendered largely ineffectual. Dhoni found that out the hard way as his two other spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and Pawan Negi – also failed to make any impression on the rampaging MI duo of Rohit and Simmons, who notched up 100 off just 57 balls.

Even the departure of both the batsmen off consecutive deliveries could not bring relief to the CSK camp. It was again Dwayne Bravo, the leading wicket-taker in this edition of IPL, who broke the 119-run second wicket stand. Rohit fell trying to hit Bravo out of the ground but ended up being caught by Jadeja on the long-on fence.

Simmons was dismissed next ball, bowled by Dwayne Smith, off the first ball of the next over, missing the line while trying to run one down to third man. The West Indian made 68 which came off 45 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes. But that setback proved to be only temporary as Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu quickly took charge.

NUMBERS GAME

119 Runs added by Simmons and Sharma for second wicket, Mumbai’s first century stand for any wicket in an IPL final

202 Mumbai’s total, their highest in an IPL final, outstripping the 148/9 vs Chennai at Kolkata in 2013 edition of the tournament

68 By Lendl Simmons off 45 balls, the highest by a Mumbai batsman in an IPL final

Celebrations at Wankhede

The entire Mumbai Indians team, its support staff, the owners and franchise officials will arrive at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, 8 pm, to celebrate the team’s second IPL win in three years. The franchise has kept the entry free from 7 pm onwards for all Mumbai Indians fans to attend the celebrations.