Report: Eliminator - MI v CSK

 CSK beat MI by 38 runs; face DD in second qualifier in Chennai

The Chennai Super Kings, who had scraped through the league phase to claim a berth in the final four, beat the Mumbai Indians at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to keep their hopes of reclaiming the IPL trophy alive. The defending champions beat the 2011 CLT20 champions by a convincing margin of 38 runs.

Leading from the front, MS Dhoni played his best knock of the tournament, while Dwayne Bravo contributed with the bat and the ball to take his team into the second qualifier where they will play the Delhi Daredevils at home.

Chasing 188 to win, Sachin Tendulkar (11) and Dwayne Smith (38) continued from where they had left off in Jaipur. The West Indies batsman attacked from the word go and helped his team to a great start. MI were cruising until Tendulkar returned to the dugout ending the 47-run opening partnership; He was run-out while trying to make an improbable run. Smith followed him back an over later as he was caught by Ravindra Jadeja off Shadab Jakati.

It was all downhill for MI from there on. Albie Morkel removed Dinesh Karthik (6) bringing out James Franklin to join Rohit Sharma. With the asking rate climbing up, MI were under pressure when Sharma (14) departed after edging Morkel to the wicketkeeper leaving his team at 77 for four. Amabati Rayudu (11) was the next to walk back. The middle-order bat hit R Ashwin straight to Murali Vijay at deep mid-wicket. A while later, Dwayne Bravo dismissed Franklin (13). And when Suresh Raina took a brilliant catch to send back Harbhajan Singh (1) off Hilfenhaus, MI needed 76 runs off 30 balls with three wickets in hand. With Kieron Pollard’s (16) mishit off Bravo caught safely by Raina, MI had reached the end of the road. The Mumbai franchise could only manage 149 for nine in their 20 overs.

Earlier, upon opting to bowl first, Harbhajan Singh and Dhawal Kulkarni got the Mumbai Indians off to a good start. While the skipper conceded only one run in the first over, the Kulkarni claimed two off two in the second over. But MI failed to cash in on the early breakthroughs as S Badrinath rescued the CSK innings with 94-run partnership with Michael Hussey. The No. 4 batsman sent Kulkarni twice to the boundary.

Hussey, who had taken nine balls to get off the mark, joined Badrinath in shaping the innings, and the duo kept the scoreboard ticking. Badrinath (47) fell short of well deserved half-century as he took the aerial route and found the safe hands of Pollard.

Dhoni, who replaced him at the crease, made his intent clear form the outset. Although a brilliant catch by Kulkarni at the fence saw Hussey return to pavilion for 49, the CSK skipper continued to hit the ball hard. He sent Franklin over the long-on fence for the longest six (112 meters) of IPL 2012 in the same over.

After being brought back into the attack, Kulkarni dismissed Jadeja (1) off the first ball. However, building on the diligent work of Badrinath and Hussey, Dhoni slammed Kulkarni for three consecutive boundaries. Joining the party, Bravo too hammered the MI bowlers all over the park. There was no stopping Dhoni (50*), who raced to his first half-century of the season off just 20 balls that too on the last ball of the innings. His knock included two sixes and six fours, while Bravo’s 14-ball 33-run cameo was peppered with three fours and two sixes. With an unbroken 73-run stand, the duo took CSK to 187 for the loss of five wickets.

Man-of-the-Match: MS Dhoni for his quick fire 51 off 20 balls, which included six fours and two sixes

We knew we could target Dhawal: Bravo

CSK all-rounder says his team went after the MI pacer despite his early breakthroughs

Dwayne Bravo best reflected the mood in the Chennai Super Kings camp. The all-rounder was all smiles and overcome with joy as the defending champions thrashed the Mumbai Indians in the eliminator of the DLF IPL 2012 Playoffs. It wasn’t an easy win for CSK, though. They had been forced on the back foot by a double-strike from Dhawal Kulkarni in just the second over of the match. However, Subramaniam Badrinath and Michael Hussey put on a 94-run stand for the third wicket to dig CSK out of that hole. After that, MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo thrashed the MI bowlers, Kulkarni included, at the end of the innings to power the team to a match-winning score of 187.

iplt20.com caught up with Bravo for an exclusive chat following the 38-run victory posted by CSK.

A terrific win for CSK, coming back to score 187 after being reduced to two for one early on. Your thoughts on that?

Obviously. This game was a must-win game; if we lost we were out and that was it. Mumbai [Indians] are a very good team. They had us on the back foot up front, but we bat fairly deep. We have a lot of experience. So we backed ourselves, myself and the captain [MS Dhoni]. We said once we bat the 20 overs, obviously, we will get a good total, which we can defend.

Where did MI bowlers go wrong because even after the initial breakthroughs they had kept you down to 61 in the first 10 overs?

It was not where they bowled wrong. You have to give to credit to the way Mahi [MS Dhoni] batted. Hussey in the middle there, Badrinath and then obviously myself coming in at the end. We just backed ourselves. We knew [Lasith] Malinga was a key bowler, so we didn’t try to be aggressive with him and lose our wickets. We tried to target the other bowlers. Obviously, Dhawal bowled well upfront with the new ball, but he is very inexperienced. We knew we could take him down, target him and get a total that we could defend.

You spoke about Badrinath. One gets the feeling that he is CSK’s go-to-man when the side is in trouble?

It’s always good to have someone like him on the team. If you look at our team, we are very flexible. Badrinath is our floater in the team. We set the batting order according to how the game is going. We need to give credit to Mahi and the coaching staff for that.

You play the Delhi Daredevils next on May 25. What do you make of them?
Another good game, another fantastic team. We are looking forward to playing at home. Hopefully, we can get another win and go through to the finals.

Is the thought of winning three successive IPL titles playing on your mind?

We’re just enjoying our game, playing free and enjoying the challenge ahead of us.