Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma praised his team for their clinical display in dismantling Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday (May 19) night.
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Mumbai openers Lendl Simmons (65 off 51 balls) and Parthiv Patel (35 off 25 balls) set the tone, raising 90 runs in 10.4 overs.
They suffered a wobble in the middle but Kieron Pollard (41 off 19 balls) put the innings back on the rails, smashing five sixes as they finished strongly on 187-6.
The bowlers and fielders then backed that performance with a disciplined display to choke the Chennai chase as they emerged triumphant by 25 runs.
Fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who dismissed opener Dwayne Smith (0) in the first over, and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (2-24), who claimed Suresh Raina (25) and Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (0) off successive deliveries, were the bowling heroes for Mumbai.
The victory marked an incredible run for the 2013 champions, who lost five of their first six league games, but eventually found their bearings and became the first team to book a place in the final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
I’m the fielding coach. That’s me – @jontyrhodes8 @mipaltan #IPL https://t.co/FBmtUczofh
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2015
“I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” said Sharma last night before crediting the team’s support staff, comprising head coach Ricky Ponting and mentor Sachin Tendulkar for their amazing run.
“Our performance right from the start was good and defending the total was amazing. Not just this match, we have been consistent once we started winning.
“We know the job is not done as we go to Kolkata. The support staff has held the team together because it’s easy to drift away after a few losses,” he added.
The day held huge significance for Pollard as it was also his mother’s birthday and he was eager to gift her a special performance, which he did by earning the man of the match award.
The Trindadian all-rounder felt his job was made easy after the opening stand between Simmons and Patel.
Man of the Match – #ApunKaSuperstar @KieronPollard55 for his 41 off 17 balls! ( 5 sixes) congratulations Big Man! #MI
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 19, 2015
“Happy birthday to my mum today and my friend’s mum as well. Being able to hit sixes is always thrust on me and the credit goes to the openers for laying the foundation,” he said. “It was a good total, just above par. But CSK are a dangerous team and we had to play well in all three departments. We’ll try to relax for a couple of days and come back right into it.”
Mumbai never loosened the grip on the game even when Chennai made their moves to gain an advantage.
Despite a good start by Mumbai, Chennai clawed back restricting the run flow and picked wickets.
Mumbai were in a spot of bother at 141-4 at the end of 17 overs. But Pollard hauled them back with his lusty hitting as Mumbai added 46 runs in the last three overs.
Chennai’s chase never got off the rails once Malinga claimed Smith. Though Faf du Plessis (45 off 34 balls) and Raina kept them in the hunt until the half-way mark (86-2), Harbhajan’s double blow dashed their hopes.
Dhoni blamed his batsmen for not rising to the challenge.
“We were soft on our batting. It’s always difficult to chase 180 plus and we lost momentum in the middle,” he said.
It’s not over for Chennai, who can still enter the final if they win the second qualifier on Friday.
