Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga all sparkled today as Mumbai Indians continued their stunning turnaround in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 and sealed their spot in the final of the multi-starrer tournament.
Simmons gave his side the perfect start, laying a strong foundation which Pollard capitalized to the hilt. The allrounder slammed a blitzy 41 to give his side a daunting total of 187/6. Defending the total and with a noisy Mumbai crowd supporting them, MI started well, but needed a superb spell from Harbhajan, including the dismissals of Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni off consecutive deliveries, to take full control of the game. Malinga ensured there was no fairytale comeback by CSK towards the end as he wrapped up the game with two quick wickets. Mumbai went on to claim a comfortable win – by 26 runs – and earn a deserved four-day break ahead of the final.
Chasing 188 to take the direct route to the final, CSK suffered an early blow when Dwayne Smith was at the receiving end of a horror LBW call in the very first over. Michael Hussey and Faf du Plessis scored briskly to put their side back on track, but Vinay Kumar accounted for the Australian to give MI to edge again.
Raina and Faf added 40 runs at a steady pace, but Harbhajan, who had gone for 20 off his first two overs, turned the wheels around in stunning fashion. The former India spinner outfoxed Raina and got a simple catch in return. MI’s joy was further catapulted when MS Dhoni got into an almighty mess going for the sweep and was out LBW for a first ball duck.
With the run rate steadily climbing, du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo went for the big hits, but when the duo fell in the space of one over, it was certainly curtains for the two-time champions.
Earlier, Simmons continued his sublime run-scoring form in IPL 2015 as the West Indian cracked a pacy half-century, his fifth this season, to help Mumbai Indians amass 187/6 after they elected to bat first against Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai. Kieron Pollard added the finishing touches to the innings that was brilliantly set up by his countryman as he whacked 41 off just 17 to help his side recover from a mini-collapse. Ashwin and Nehra were CSK’s best bowlers with economical spells, while all the other bowlers went for at least 9 runs an over. Bravo ended with three wickets to his name, taking his tally to 23 in the tournament.
Simmons also found an able partner in Parthiv Patel and the opening pair, after a fairly cautious start, gave their side a strong base for blitzy finish. Simmons, in particular, looked in the mood from the beginning as he smacked Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra and Jadeja for sixes in quick succession. Patel joined in the fun in the eighth over as Pawan was slammed for a six and two fours. Mumbai Indians had raced away to 90 in the 11th over before Dwayne Bravo turned things on its head.
The all-rounder ended the opening stand by getting rid of Patel. Boosted by the breakthrough, CSK found their confidence yet again. Jadeja accounted for the well-set Simmons soon after, and Bravo added another wicket to his tally with the vital wicket of Rohit Sharma. Hardik Pandya could not repeat the heroics he pulled off against the Chennai side last time around as he was out for one off two deliveries.
Kieron Pollard added more glitz to the innings by walloping 41 off just 17 deliveries as MI ended with a par score. It turned out to be an innings that was crucial for the Rohit Sharma-led side as it gave them the momentum going into the game, and they were able to transform that into dominance in the second half of the game.
