Mumbai Indians clinched their first IPL Trophy as they defeated Chennai Super Kings by a convincing 23-run margin in the Pepsi IPL 2013 final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday night.
Batting first, MI posted 148 after opting to bat first before their bowlers restricted CSK to 125.
Chasing 149, Lasith Malinga drew first blood in the very first over as he uprooted Michael Hussey’s (1) leg-stump with a toe-crushing Yorker before having Suresh Raina (0) caught by Dwayne Smith at backward square-leg. Mitchell Johnson had Subramaniam Badrinath caught behind to leave CSK reeling at 3 for 3 in the second over. Murali Vijay smashed two boundaries off Johnson as CSK started to rebuild. Vijay was given a chance as Dinesh Karthik dropped him on 14, before Dwayne Bravo (15) perished, caught by Johnson off Pragyan Ojha.
Ravindra Jadeja (0) was caught in the deep by Kieron Pollard off Harbhajan Singh as CSK lost half their side for 36. The collapse continued as Vijay (18) miscued a pull shot off Johnson to be caught by Rohit Sharma. Albie Morkel launched Harbhajan for a six in the ninth over. CSK at the halfway stage were 54 for 6, still requiring 95 more.
Ojha, introduced into the attack in the eleventh over, bowled Morkel (10) with his sixth ball before Harbhajan had Chris Morris (0) edge one to the keeper to leave CSK eight down in the twelfth over. MS Dhoni slapped Ojha for a six in the 13th over before launching another one in the 15th. Needing 66 from 30 balls, Dhoni smashed Pollard for a six. Ravichandran Ashwin (9) fell in the 18th over, caught off Pollard to all but knockout CSK’s hopes. Dhoni hit a couple of sixes in the final over but CSK eventually fell 23 runs short.
Earlier, MI won the toss and elected to bat. MI were rocked early as Mohit Sharma struck in the first over trapping Smith (4) leg before. Aditya Tare (0) followed him with Morkel landing a toe-crusher to break his leg stump. It only got worse as Rohit Sharma was caught and bowled by Morkel to leave MI reeling at 16 for 3 in the fourth over. Karthik was given a reprieve on 13 when Bravo put him down off Mohit Sharma. Ambati Rayudu showed some fight hitting two boundaries off Morkel in the sixth over.
Karthik (21) dragged a Chris Morris delivery back onto his leg-stump to leave MI four down at the half-way stage. Pollard smashed Ashwin for a six in the twelfth over before hitting two boundaries off Jadeja in the 15th. Bravo then knocked over Rayudu’s (37) stump. Harbhajan Singh hit three boundaries off Bravo before holing out to Hussey. Rishi Dhawan (3) was then run out in the 19th over. Bravo had Johnson (1) and Malinga (0) caught behind before Pollard (60*) smoked a couple of sixes in the last over to help MI reach 148 for 9.
Man-of-the-Match: Kieron Pollard
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 148 for 9 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 60*, Dwayne Bravo 4-42) defeated Chennai Super Kings 125 for 9 in 20 overs (MS Dhoni 63*, Harbhajan Singh 2-14) by 23 runs.
