The Mumbai Indians had lost to Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 3 final in 2010. They learned from their mistakes, as they did not let this happen again in IPL 6 tonight and won the title in style. With a meagre target of 149, it was believed that CSK would have a cake walk, but it became an uphill task for them in the end.
Mumbai became the IPL champions for the first time, while Chennai failed to win their third title in fifth final appearance. They had won the tournament twice in the past. Although Tendulkar did not play in the last few matches, including the final due to an injury, he worked as a guide and mentor. He announced retirement from the IPL soon after Mumbai Indians’ victory.
The way CSK lost in the final today despite being the most consistent team in IPL history, will raise several questions. They are already morally down with their CEO Gurunath Meiyappan in police custody and allegations against three unnamed players in the betting and spot-fixing scandal.
At Eden Gardens, Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat first. They lost quick wickets in the beginning and finally managed to post 148/9 in 20 overs. Kieron Pollard was the top scorer with 60, while Ambati Rayudu made 37. Dinesh Karthik scored 21. Dwayne Bravo took 4 wickets, while Albie Morkel took two wickets.
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Chasing a victory target of 149, Chennai lost three wickets for just three runs on board and failed to recover from that shock. Mike Hussey scored just 1, while Raina, Badrinath, Jadeja and Chris Morris were out for duck. At one stage, they were 39/6. Only Dhoni showed some resistance with an unbeaten 63 off 45 balls with 3 boundaries and 5 sixes.
Chennai finished at 125/9 in 20 overs and lost the match by 23 runs. Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson and Harbhajan Singh took two wickets each. Kieron Pollard was declared ‘Man of the Match’. Shane Watson won the ‘Most Valuable Player’ (Man of the Series) award. Mike Hussey won the ‘Orange Cap’ for scoring 733 runs in the tournament, while Dwayne Bravo won the ‘Purple Cup’ for taking 32 wickets in IPL 6.
Other Key Awards:
Catch of the season: Gurkeerat Singh from Punjab.
Young player of the season: Sanju Samson from Rajasthan.
Fairplay Trophy: Chennai Super Kings