MS Dhoni: 5 finals! 5 masterstrokes! 5 victories! One man!

#4 IPL Final 2010- Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians

Placing Matthew Hayden at the straight mid-off against Pollard

In the final match of the 3rd edition of the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings locked horns with the table toppers Mumbai Indians.

Chennai won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers weren’t able to deliver big as Chennai had a slow start. But all thanks to MI fielders’ poor fielding that helped the super kings to post a decent total of 168 runs in 20 overs. Chasing 169, MI was not up to the start they would have wanted as wickets kept falling from one end. While on the other end, it was Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who was fighting with an injured finger. Keeping an eye on fall of wickets at regular intervals, the Mumbai Indians’ management decided to not keep it simple and Pollard was sent at no. 8. By the time Pollard entered the ground, MI needed 55 runs in 3 overs. Pollard smashed 22 runs in the 18th over of the game.

Mumbai Indians now needed 33 runs in the last 12 balls with Pollard being the lone man between CSK and trophy. In the final ball of that over Dhoni employed a strange field setting. He placed Matthew Hayden at the straight mid-off just behind the bowler. This initially made no sense. But once again, MSD got the better of the opponents as Pollard was caught by Hayden on the next ball. This was the final nail in the coffin that helped the Super Kings to win the title for the first time.