Call it luck, fate or destiny, but defending champions Chennai Super Kings after almost getting knocked out of the Indian Premier League in the league stages are still alive in the tournament and have taken a huge step towards moving into the finals of the tournament after they beat Mumbai Indians by 38 runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Chennai batting in the Indian Premier League eliminator first put a formidable 187 on the board and in reply Mumbai after a good start faltered mid-way to end their innings on 149 for nine. Two times champions Chennai now would face Delhi Daredevils challenge tomorrow and if they beat them then it would for the third consecutive time that Chennai would feature in IPL finals.

There were some good performances that shaped the course of the match.

Here are some of the hits and flops of the match played between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians:

Hits and flops of Chennai Super Kings:

Hits:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: The skipper saved his best for the last and after a series of bad performances Dhoni could not have chosen a better day to show how dangerous he could be. Batting at number five, he was at his rampaging best and scored 51 off just 21 deliveries laced with six fours and two sixes. His blitz helped Chennai to a challenging 187.

All round Dwayne Bravo: He has been one of the most useful players for the Chennai over the years and yesterday in the match he showed why the Chennai camp instills so much faith in him. He played a second fiddle to Dhoni and scored a breezy 33 of 14 deliveries which included three fours and two sixes. He helped the Dhoni is his endeavor to help the post a good target. He then came later and took two crucial wickets to help Chennai defend the total. He returned with figures of 10-2 in three overs.

Albie Morkel: Albie Morkel did not get a chance to bat yesterday but he made sure that he was in the list of one of the contributors. He took two wickets by giving away just 31 runs in his stipulated four overs.

Flops:

Suresh Raina: One of the most prolific run score in the IPL history Suresh Raina flopped throughout the tournament and yesterday was no exception to it as he scored a first ball duck.

Hits and flops of Mumbai Indians:

Hits:

Dhawal Kulkarni: He was one of the few bowlers who could have their name on the wicket takers list. He bowled great in the initial spell and also scalped Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina in consecutive deliveries of his first over. But then later he could sustain the momentum and was carted for runs. Nevertheless he still finished with three wickets by giving away 46 runs.

Dwayne Smith: He was the only batsmen from the Mumbai Indians side who could pose substantial threat to the Chennai Super Kings bowlers. Opening the innings with Sachin Tendulkar, he got Mumbai off to a flying start, He scored 38 of 22 deliveries laced with five fours and two sixes and it was after his wicket that Mumbai lost the track and eventually could manage only 149.

Flops:

Rohit Sharma: He has been their best batsmen of the tournament and on a day when it was required for him to deliver he failed and he could manage only 14 runs of 19 deliveries a rather unusual phenomenon when it is in relation to Rohit Sharma.

By Indian Sports News Network