HYDERABAD: A proven track record does no good if you're not good on the day. Having made his point beautifully on the eve of the
IPL 2019
final against
Chennai Super Kings,
Rohit Sharma and Co. were expected to not just merely turn up, but put in an impressive performance.
SCORECARDAnd by converting their words into deeds,
Mumbai Indians not only won their fourth title but their one-run win over Chennai Super Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday was the second such finish - they had defeated Pune Warriors by the same margin here in 2017.
In Chennai, Mumbai had an opposition that's weathered many a storm, but in not refusing to give up or give in, Mumbai are now in a league of their own with the skipper making it a penta - four titles with Mumbai and one with Deccan Chargers.
As is their wont, Chennai turned the contest into a gripping finale and Rahul Chahar nearly cost them the game when he reprieved Shane Watson with the opener going great guns on 55. The Aussie smashed two overs for 20 runs each off Lasith Malinga (16th) and Krunal Pandya (18th) to negate all the good work Rahul Chahar had done by restricting Chennai to 72 for two at the halfway stage - they eventually had to rest content with 148/7.
When Watson finally fell with two deliveries to go for 80 (59b, 8x4, 6x4), Chennai still needed four. His 51-run partnership with Dwayne Bravo was not enough to see CSK cross the line with Lasith Malinga sounding the death knell by denying two runs off the last ball.
The start was just as exciting as the finish after the Mumbai skipper had no hesitation to bat first. But if Mumbai's 149 for eight was a start-stop affair, Chennai had not reckoned with Mumbai's bowling arsenal that slowly tilted the scales in their favour by choking runs in the middle.
Faf du Plessis was the initial aggressor, while Shane Watson took his time, but with Suresh Raina running out of luck, Ambati Rayudu coming a cropper and skipper MS Dhoni run-out going for a second on an overthrow, Mumbai cleverly wrested the initiative through Chahar's excellent returns of one for 14, which included 13 dot balls and just one boundary.
IPL 2019 Final
The leggie upstaged his namesake in the opposition, who too did well after Quinton de Kock teed off with gay abandon, while the Mumbai skipper took stock of the situation, which presented itself in the form of Deepak Chahar's second over. De Kock seized on it to smash 20 runs, but Dhoni's gamble to switch ends for Chahar and Shardul Thakur paid off as the latter induced a top edge of De Kock for Dhoni and celebrated with a wild send-off that invited umpire Gould's attention.
The skipper followed suit, Chahar the successful bowler as Mumbai reached 45 for two in powerplay and failed to force the pace as the Chennai attack tightened the screws. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan (23; 26b, 4x3) tried to stem the rot but both of them were cleaned up by Imran Tahir.