IPL 2019: Mumbai Indians qualify for the finals with crushing 6-wicket win over CSK 

Mumbai Indians have defeated Chennai Super Kings in the first qualifier played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Tuesday. With this win, they have directly made it into the finals of IPL 2019.

CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. It was not a great start for the hosts as they lost the early wicket of Faf du Plessis for 6 runs. Suresh Raina failed to contribute much too as he was dismissed by Jayant Yadav for 5 runs.

Shane Watson's struggle continued in this year’s IPL as he was dismissed by Krunal Pandya for 10. At the end of six overs, CSK were struggling at 32 for 3.

After the powerplay Murali Vijay and Ambati Rayudu took time to settle, taking singles and hitting the occasional boundary. Vijay looked the more positive of the two and tried to put pressure on the MI bowlers.

Rahul Chahar then struck again, dismissing Vijay for 26. Vijay and Rayudu had added 33 runs for the 4th wicket.

That brought Dhoni to the crease, and he looked in decent touch from the start. Dhoni and Rayudu tried to up the scoring rate in the end overs, which was necessary considering CSK's slow pace up to that point.

Dhoni was particularly effective against Lasith Malinga, hitting him for some big shots, but he couldn't do the same against Jasprit Bumrah. Dhoni and Rayudu added 66 unbeaten runs for the 5th wicket, and CSK posted a total of 131 for 4 in 20 overs.

Chasing the target of 132 runs, MI got off to a disastrous start as Deepak Chahar dismissed their captain Rohit Sharma in the first over itself. Harbhajan Singh then struck too, dismissing the other opener Quinton de Kock for 8 runs.

Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan steadied the MI innings a little after that. At the end of six overs, Mumbai Indians were 44 for 2.

After the powerplay, Yadav and Kishan continued their attacking approach to stay above the required run rate at all times. It was a good batting display by both the batsmen.

Purple Cap contender Imran Tahir then broke the partnership by dismissing Kishan for 28. Yadav and Kishan had added 80 runs for the 3rd wicket.

Tahir then got the wicket of Krunal Pandya off the very next ball, injecting some life into the match. But Yadav remained steady, and reached his fifty off 37 balls. He remained not out on 71, taking MI to victory with 9 balls to spare.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 132 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 71*, Imran Tahir 2/33, Harbhajan Singh 1/25) beat Chennai Super Kings 131 for 4 in 20 overs (Ambati Rayudu 42*, MS Dhoni 37*, Rahul Chahar 2/14) by 6 wickets.

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