Victory opens the door for Super Kings

CHENNAI: No one at the Chepauk could believe till 10:30 pm that Chennai Super Kings could win the match. But Sachin Tendulkar, all cramped up and dehydrated, hopped out during the strategy break and in another 15 minutes, the Yellow Submarine was zooming in. The 24-run win has really opened the door for CSK and two wins off the last four may just do it for Dhoni’s boys. 

If CSK couldn’t make much of an impression on Tendulkar, the heat did. The Little Master, despite his best efforts, just couldn’t carry on after the strategy break. 

And the valiant CSK brigade didn’t miss the opportunity. They knew run-scoring wasn’t all that easy on the track where the ball was just stopping a bit. The canny MS Dhoni employed his spinners and the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard faltered. 

The CSK fielding also went to a different level altogether with incredible catches being snapped up and brilliant run-outs executed. Tendulkar (45 off 35 balls) tried one last time after seven wickets had fallen, but things had really gone out of hand by then. 

Harbhajan Singh did hit a couple of huge sixes off Doug Bollinger in the 18th over to up the tempo, but the asking-rate was just a little too steep. 

CSK, though, faltered while batting after getting off to a decent start. Pollard (2-27) worked up a lively pace and removed Dhoni and Matthew Hayden in successive balls, which put the brakes on CSK as they huffed and puffed to 165. 

Pollard bounced one to Dhoni in the 14th over and the skipper couldn’t control the attempted hook shot, offering a simple catch. It was all down to Hayden after that, but the Mongoose man doesn’t seem to be at his best. He went to clear the long-on boundary the very next ball, only to give a catch to R Sathish. 

Tendulkar deserves credit for the way he handled his bowlers right through the innings. While in the beginning, he bowled Harbhajan Singh (1-23) three on the trot, no other bowler was given more than one over. That didn’t allow the CSK top order to settle and when Bhajji removed M Vijay, it was evident that things wouldn’t be easy for them. 

Mumbai Indians were operating without Zaheer Khan, but the likes of Ryan McLaren, Pollard and Lasith Malinga were always on the spot.