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

Report: Match 72 - RR v MI

Prior to the last league match of IPL 2012, the Rajasthan Royals had never lost a match in which they scored 160 or more while batting first. The Mumbai Indians shattered that record by registering a thumping 10-wicket win at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. MI successfully chased the 163-run target with two overs to spare.

The game had very little but pride at stake as MI had already made it to the top four, while RR were already out of playoff contention. The visitors looked to go into the playoffs with momentum on their side and the hosts just wanted to end the season on a high note. In the end, it was the stronger team that prevailed.

In what came across as their attempt to use the most number of opening pairs in a single tournament, the Mumbai Indians came up with yet another opening combination – Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith. The two ended up with the best opening partnership of IPL 2012 as they piled on 163 runs. The Tendulkar-Smith duo lived an extremely charmed in the middle. They kept playing wrong shots in the air and the ball kept falling short of the fielders. To double up the frustration of RR bowlers, the fielders leaked some runs on the ground as well.

When Sidharth Trivedi finally got Smith caught in the deep, it turned out to be a no-ball. Tendulkar smacked the next delivery, a free-hit, for a six to bring up MI’s 100. As the two batsmen rode their luck to the fullest, the hosts could do very little apart from grinning and bearing it.

After playing some chancy shots in the beginning, both batsmen settled down nicely and began to hit the ball well. Tendulkar scored 58* off 51 balls with the help of six fours, while Smith finished with 87* off 54 deliveries. He hit 10 fours and three sixes. MI got home with 12 balls to spare and all 10 wickets in hand.

Earlier, Rahul Dravid had called it right at the toss and elected to bat first. MI’s Dhawal Kulkarni was playing his first game of IPL 2012 and he accounted for the most successful opening pair of the season. In his first over, he dismissed Rahul Dravid (5) with a short and side delivery was edged to the ‘keeper. In his third over, he got rid of the in-form Ajinkya Rahane (13) with another short ball.

MI’s captain, however, was not that effective. Harbhajan Singh was smacked for 30 runs off his first two overs. Stuart Binny was particularly harsh on the off-spinner, creaming him for three fours and two sixes. Finally, Binny ran himself out for 30 (off 17 balls), thus ending his dangerous 53-run (36 balls) partnership with Watson.

Watson carried on for a while, before Pollard got him caught in the deep, inducing a mistimed pull shot. The Australian departed for 45 off 36 balls with four fours and two hits over the fence. Owais Shah and Ashok Menaria got sedate 20s to take RR to 162 for six in their allotted 20 overs. Kulkarni finished with figures of 4-1-18-3, while Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard picked up a scalp each.

The Mumbai Indians will now take on the Chennai Super Kings in the playoff eliminator in Bengaluru on May 23, 2012.


 Man of the Match: Dwayne Smith for his 58-ball 87 (10x4; 3x6) that helped MI win by 10 wickets