Bangalore: Chennai Super Kings reserve their best for the big occasions and they once again proved that they aren’t the defending champions for nothing as they beat Mumbai Indians in the IPL eliminator comprehensively by 38 runs at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Acknowledging that they were outclassed by the sheer brilliance of MS Dhoni & Co., Mumbai skipper Harbhajan Singh said when Dhoni bats like the way he did today, there wasn’t much that his team could do.

Harbhajan complimented Chennai Super Kings for "playing like champions". "Of course, I am disappointed that we lost, but we cannot change the result. The Super Kings played like champions and deserved to win today," said Harbhajan after the game.

"Dhoni and Bravo took the game away from us in the last four overs (of the Super Kings innings), and there was not much we could do," he added, referring to the rollicking unfinished stand of 74 runs off 29 balls between Dhoni and Bravo for the sixth wicket.

Dhoni, adjudged Man of the Match for his unbeaten 51 off 20 balls, pointed out that it was the 94 run stand between Michael Hussey and Subramaniam Badrinath for the second wicket that set up the Super Kings innings.

"Hussey and Badri gave us the platform with their partnership. Badri is our silent hero," said Dhoni.

Over the past week, Dhoni said his team that had completed the league engagements, watched the other games whose results directly influenced their entry into play-offs.

"We did follow the matches, but it was beyond our control.It was always there at the back of our mind that we could still qualify and the results of other matches went our way. So we are here," said Dhoni referring to the agonizing week when the Super Kings' fate hinged on the results of three matches.

The Super Kings eventually tied on points with Royal Challengers Bangalore, but nosed ahead on better Net Run Rate.