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

Captaincy has calmed me down: Bhajji

MI skipper says being a leader has taught him how to handle pressure

Responsibility can have one of two effects on a person – it either brings out the best in them or it crumbles them. It’s difficult to say what the responsibility of leading the Mumbai Indians has done to Harbhajan Singh the bowler. But as the man himself admits, it has mellowed him down as an individual. The once-temperamental Turbanator now has a more balanced outlook towards cricket and life. The maturity and patience is unmistakable when he talks to you. “You have to think differently as a captain, then you do as a player,” he says.

After leading the Mumbai Indians to the 2011, Harbhajan was thrust into captaincy in IPL 2012 when Sachin Tendulkar decided to step down. While tactically not the soundest captain, he has shown tremendous calmness during the various nervewracking situations that his team has faced right through the season.

After crossing all hurdles, MI have made it to the playoffs in Bhajji’s reign. On the eve of leading his team into the second qualifier, against the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, the MI skipper spoke to iplt20.com about the season so far, his own bowling and the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.

From some games in last IPL to the CLT20 and now IPL 2012 – what is that one area where you think you have really improved as a captain?

From the last time I have become calmer and more composed; I don’t get angry when things don’t go in our favour. At the end of the day, I have to understand that in this format, the bowlers will go for runs and sometimes batsmen will get out. If you come across as a guy who gets really aggressive when things don’t go in your favour, it will not set the right tone for the rest of the 10 guys on the field.

Did the number of close games that you played out this season help you deal with pressure situations?

Yes. Especially in T20 you do come across such situations often and you have to deal with them. You’ll eventually win some and lose some but being calm and composed at that moment will enable you to take better decisions. As a leader it is important to lead from the front, not only on the field but off it as well. You should send positive vibes to the team. There are times when you talk to your teammates and suddenly you realise that you can pull off the game from the most difficult positions.

You have defeated CSK in both the league matches in the tournament. Will that give you an edge?

Whatever games we have played so far are all gone and I don’t believe in thinking of what has happened in the past. If I have to see this game, I will see it as a fresh one. CSK have been the champions twice and they will come hard at us knowing that it’s a must-win game. We have plans for them, and hopefully, we can execute them on the day.

How much of an impact will Ben Hilfenhaus have, especially swinging the new ball?

It depends on the particular day whether he is swinging the ball or our batsmen are swinging the bat. We have got batsmen who can handle any kind of bowlers. We are looking forward to this game and we know that if we play to our potential, we can beat any side in this competition.

After trying out eight different opening combinations, has the team found the best one yet?

Not yet. We have got [Herschelle] Gibbs who did well for us in Kolkata and now we have got [Dwayne] Smith who played a perfect innings in Rajasthan for us. We’ll discuss what the ideal combination would be for the day and the opposition.

What is the biggest threat that CSK poses to your team?

They are a very confident bunch and they have the experience of playing these big games and winning them. That is probably their strength. They have players like MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo and Albie Morkel who have done well over the years for them.

Why haven’t you completed your quota of four overs in most games this season?

As a captain you need to read the game from a different prospective. For the team’s sake you have to take bold decisions of not bowling a bowler if he’s not required, be it Harbhajan, Muralitharan or Warne. It’s not that I don’t want to bowl – I always want to bowl as many overs that I can. But as a captain you have to stop thinking about yourself. I put my team ahead of single individuals and I feel that is very important to go forward.

Would you field a pace-heavy bowling attack on this wicket?

I have not decided on what team to go with. Last time Pragyan Ojha played a crucial role in us beating CSK, with his two wickets. In this format, it’s not about which wicket you play on. It’s more about playing with the batsman’s mind.

Quick Stats: Match 72 - RR v MI

MI try their eighth; Tait bowls six; RR suffer their first; 

1 The Rajasthan Royals suffered a defeat for the first time after making 160-plus runs in the first innings of the match.

3 Number of batsmen to aggregate 2,000 runs in the IPL. Sachin Tendulkar joined Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir on this list.

5 Number of times a side has registered a 10-wicket win in IPL. The 163-run target is the highest chased by any side in IPL without losing a wicket.

6 Number of wides sent down by Shaun Tait – the most by any bowler in a match in IPL 2012. In fact, this also equalled the record of most wides bowled by a bowler in an IPL match. Interestingly, Tait has now done this on two occasions. The other occasion was also against the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2010. Shane Harwood and Lasith Malinga are the other bowlers to have sent down six wides in a match, both in IPL 2009.

8 Number of opening pairs used by the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2012 – the most by any side along with the Pune Warriors India.

163 The first wicket unbroken partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith – this is the highest opening stand in the IPL. The pair obliterated the 159-run stand between Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay for the Chennai Super Kings against the Royal Challengers Bangalore last year. 

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