IPL 6: Chennai Super Kings crush Mumbai Indians to reach fourth consecutive final

Fireworks lit up the imposing Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi. The crowd packed themselves to the rafters and roared their approval each time the willow struck leather. And it was once too often on a placid track, made to order for the lustful pleasures of its boundary hungry customers. If there were dark grey clouds hanging over the game, they were barely felt under the glaring neon lights. Chasing a stiff 193 run target, Mumbai Indians faltered in their chase to be dismissed for 144 and stumbled to a humiliating 48-run loss at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings.

The win enabled CSK to reach their fifth final in six editions of the IPL tournament with a commanding performance against an outmatched Mumbai Indians team. The Mumbai team lacked the application and depth needed to challenge the imposing 192-1 posted by the Chennai team. A stellar 140 run partnership between Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina helped Chennai control the outcome of the first play-off.

Dwayne Smith (68 off 28) and Keiron Pollard briefly threatened to challenge the former champions, but wickets at regular intervals brought the chase to a stuttering stop. Ravindra Jadeja stepped in to snap up important wickets to shut down Mumbai’s chase before Dwayne Bravo completed the last rites. Mumbai failed to last the full 20 overs, as Chennai romped to victory with plenty to spare to reach their fourth consecutive IPL finals.

Dhoni’s decision to bat first after winning the toss paid rich dividends. Michael Hussey, in plundering form this season, sent the first ball scurrying to the boundary to set the tone for a blistering Chennai innings. Murali Vijay proved an equal foil to the Aussie as he struck a couple of boundaries off the second over.

Twelve runs came off Munaf Patel and he was forced off the attack after just one over. But then Lasith Malinga fared no better and Rohit Sharma had to turn to spin after three overs. There was barely any pace or movement off the track. Harbhajan Singh came on and conceded just two off his first over.

Any hopes that the wicket might aid the slower bowlers were dissipated quickly though as Chennai coasted along nicely to 50 in the seventh over. Vijay fell in the next over though when he was deceived by a slower one from Keiron Pollard.

The CSK opener failed to get enough on it and Dwayne Smith lapped up an easy catch at deep midwicket. That brought Suresh Raina to the middle and what followed was a well-crafted century partnership that took the match away from the blues.

Raina and Hussey stabilised for a little bit before launching into a scathing attack in the eleventh over. The 23-year-old sent Pragyan Ohja into the midwicket stands to propel the innings forward with fifteen runs plundered in the twelfth over.

Chennai raced past the 100-run mark in the next over as Raina helped himself to a couple of sixes off a shocked Bhajji and a very miffed Johnson. The Aussie gave Raina a mouthful, but the young man was too busy planning the onslaught to even bother looking.

Even as 38 runs came off the three over stretch, Hussey completed his sixth fifty this IPL season to inch closer to the Orange cap. Hussey pulled one over square leg, when Pollard offered a juicy delivery just short of a length. With no bowler spared, Mumbai was facing the brunt of the heat in Delhi.

The Orange cap switched loyalties when Hussey took a couple of runs later in the same over to help Chennai to 125-1. There were five overs left in the bank, and the air thickened in anticipation of a sizeable target.

Raina took maximum off a juicy slow full toss from Pollard to bring up his fifty in 29 balls. A couple of balls later, Smith put down a difficult catch after grabbing the ball in both hands at midwicket. Mumbai’s misery was compounded by the fact that Raina stole a couple to take his team past the 150 mark.

A good over from Malinga turned bad when Raina drove through extra cover for a boundary off the last ball in the 18^th over. Twelve runs came off the penultimate over from Johnson, who was lucky not to have been taken for more.

Raina got the final over off to a blistering start with a six over midwicket. Hussey got underneath a Malinga delivery that drifted down the leg-side to score another maximum. Hussey ended the innings exactly the way he had begun, with a boundary.

Raina murdered the bowling for a stunning 82 in 42 balls and Hussey was stellar yet again in his 86 off 58 balls. Hussey has been in imperious form and his 732 runs in 16 matches have been vital to CSK’s success this season.

Mumbai responded with belligerence but they were stifled by a length delivery from Albie Morkel in the second over. Aditya Tare, who has done a commendable job of filling in for the absent Sachin Tendulkar, paid for his aggression. Vijay snapped up an easy catch at mid-on to send the opener back to the bench.

Dinesh Karthik has been a pillar for MI this season and his presence provided much needed assurance to Smith at the other end. The West Indian continued to plunder runs at will as Mohit Sharma, Morkel and Chris Morris took turns to soak in the punishment.

Smith reached his fifty off just 21 balls with a brutal lofted six off Morris that landed in the upper stands. With Mumbai at 72-1 after just seven, it was the Super Kings that needed the two and a half minute strategic timeout to discover a means to upend Smith.

Ravichandran Ashwin was thrust into the attack to halt the juggernaut. Smith invited him to the barbecue with a blistering straight six and a boundary that needed barely a feather to sweep it past the ropes.

MS Dhoni relies on Ravindra Jadeja every time he needs some magic. And the bearded youngster did a mighty trick in the ninth over. Jadeja lured Smith into mistiming a quickish delivery and Raina snapped up the catch in the covers to end a threatening 68. Smith’s runs came of just 28 balls.

The man with the Midas touch, Jadeja broke Mumbai’s back when he had Karthik plumb in front after he swept a little too soon. The ball struck on the thigh as Karthik knelt down to sweep and the umpire had no hesitation in sending the dangerous batsman back to the dugout.

The pressure was mounting and Rohit went after Morris, only to launch an easy catch for Dwayne Bravo at the long off boundary. At 101-4, Mumbai were only left with 8 overs to get nearly a hundred runs to win the match.

The search started to turn desperate and a couple of towering sixes from Pollard immediately after the second time-out seemed to ignite Mumbai’s hopes. But it only turned out to be a false dawn, as a rash of lost wickets put paid to their chase.

Pollard fell to a catch at square leg by Hussey off the bowling of Jadeja who was picking a bagful with his innocuous left arm spinners. Bravo built on Jadeja’s success by snapping up Harbhajan, Johnson and Malinga in quick succession. Bravo’s 3-9 helped him past James Faulkner to the Purple cap with 28 wickets.

At the end, it was only fitting that the most consistent team in this edition of the IPL is the first team to the reach the finals. CSK will now enjoy a well-deserved four day rest as they wait to find out their opponent in the finals at the Eden Gardens this weekend.

The second play-off is tomorrow between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same ground. The winners of that match will play Mumbai Indians on Friday for the right to play CSK on Sunday.