press trust of india
Mumbai, May 19: Kieron Pollard (41, 16b, 1×4, 5×6) gave the right momentum to the Mumbai Indians (MI) innings and then the bowlers did a tidy job to restrict Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to 162 all out in 19 overs here Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium and ensure a win for the hosts. By virtue of the 25-run victory, MI, who at one point of time, never looked like making the play-offs, entered the final.
However, CSK still have a chance to go to the summit clash. They will meet the winners of the ‘Eliminator ‘ in Qualifier-2 to decide who will face MI at the Eden?Gardens, May 24.
After Lendl Simmons (65, 51b, 3×4, 5×6) and Parthiv Patel (35, 25b, 4×4, 1×6) had put on a rollicking stand of 90 in 64 balls, MI were set back by some restrictive bowling by Dwayne Bravo (3/40) and Ashish Nehra (1/28). However, Pollard changed all that with some brilliant hitting as MI accumulated 45 runs in the last three overs to go past the 180-run mark.
Chasing 180-plus is always a difficult task and umpire Richard Illingworth made it more tough for CSK by delaring Dwayne Smith leg before to Lasith Malinga with the ball clearly missing the leg stump. The MI bowlers went on taking wickets to prevent CSK from taking charge. Suresh Raina (25, 20b, 2×6) started well but when Harbhajan dismissed him and MS Dhoni off successive deliveries it was curtains for CSK.
Brief scores: MI 187 for 6 (Lendl Simmons 65, Kieron Pollard 41, Dwayne Bravo 3/40). beat CSK 162 all out in 19 overs (Faf du Plessis 45, Harbhajan Singh 2/26) by 25 runs
