Mumbai Indians were crowned the new champions of Indian Premier League after they defeated Chennai Super Kings in the final played at Eden Gardens on Sunday. It was the brilliant effort from Ambati Rayudu and Keiron Pollard which gave Mumbai a total of 148 to defend. Rohit Sharma’s idea of opening the bowling with Lasith Malinga worked out well as he bagged the wickets of Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina in his very first over. Later, Harbhajan Singh and Mitchell Johnson broke the back-bone of CSK with their brilliant performance and even the heroic efforts of MS Dhoni went in vain who ended up scoring 63 from 45 balls.
Here we bring to you the hits and flops of the Grand Finale played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
HITS
Keiron Pollard: Pollard was absolutely magical with the bat. He was timing the ball beautifully which was a sign that he would take Mumbai to a good score. He smacked seven fours and three sixes in his knock of 60 runs off 32 balls.
Mitchell Johnson: Johnson was amazing with the ball and kept the batsmen quiet during his four overs. He gave away just 19 runs and picked up the wickets of Murali Vijay and S Badrinath.
MS Dhoni: Dhoni kept on fighting single-handedly but couldn’t take his team over the finishing line. He smashed 63 runs from 45 balls which was studded with five sixes and three fours but his decision of coming late to bat did go against his team.
Lasith Malinga: Malinga set-up the tone of the match quite beautifully as he picked up the wicket of Mike Hussey and Suresh Raina in the very first over. The early blows put the brakes on chances of CSK’s recovery.
Harbhajan Singh: Turbanator was on fire as he smashed 14 runs off 8 balls and went on to bag couple of wickets after giving away just 14 runs in his three overs.
Albie Morkel: Morkel was an absolutely beauty with the ball. He started off well as he got the wicket of newbie Aditya Tare and opposition Captain Rohit Sharma. He ended up with the figures of 2/12 after his three overs.
Ambati Rayudu: Rayudu was the unsung hero of this Finale as he gave Mumbai Indians the stability which allowed them to reach close to 150. He scored a brilliant 37 runs off 36 balls that he faced.
FLOPS
Dwayne Smith: Smith departed after scoring a boundary and it was brilliant ball from Mohit Sharma which trapped him in front of the off-stump.
Mike Hussey: Mike Hussey departed after scoring just one run and it was courtesy of Malinga’s perfect reverse swing yorker which sent him back to the dug-out.
Suresh Raina: Raina was dismissed on the very first ball that he faced. A very well bowled short-ball from Malinga not just got him out but turned the tables in Mumbai’s favour.
Rohit Sharma: He failed with the bat and scored just two runs. He hasn’t done well in last few matches and in finale it was no different. But his captaincy did make world of difference as he kept rotating the bowlers very smartly.
Dwayne Bravo: Bravo did pick up four wickets but was way too expensive. He ended up with the figures of 4/42 and also contributed 15 runs to the tournament.
Ravindra Jadeja: Jadeja looked off-colour in the finals as he departed gor a naught and also gave away 19 runs in his two overs. He did well in the entire tournament but on the day when it mattered the most, he failed to deliver.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network
