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Mumbai: Mumbai Indians qualify for IPL 2015 final with 25-run victory over Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 at Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
Chasing 188 to win, CSK started well, but then crumbled in the middle. At the half-way mark, they were 86 for two with Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis in the middle. At the same stage Harbhajan Singh in MI’s favour quite drastically.
Raina checked his shot to a loopy delivery and offered a simple return-catch to Harbhajan. Off the next ball, skipper MS Dhoni tried to sweep and was hit plumb in front From there on, CSK struggled and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
MI managed to strangle CSK then even as Dwayne Bravo tried to script a recovery. Du Plessis hit one to long-on and then Bravo was run-out in the 15th over to leave CSK with dashed hopes.
A small assault by Ravichandran Ashwin gave them a glimmer of hope at the death but Lasith Malinga returned to clean the tail up and finish the game in 19 overs.
Harbhajan was the star for MI with the ball and in this big game, his spell of two for 26 turned out to be crucial. In that match-turning over, he almost had a third wicket as Bravo hit one back at him but it hit his little finger.
Earlier, opted to bat, Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel starting off with positive intent, the pair took MI to 86 runs in 10 overs.
However, CSK managed to get back in the game as MI lost four wickets for 39 runs in six overs. MI had lost Simmons for 65 as he holed out to cover. Rohit hit one to mid-wicket and Hardik Pandya too found the man in the deep.
At 139 for four in the 17th over, MI needed a serious assault. Kieron Pollard maintained his cool through the innings and picked his opportunities to score. In 17 balls, he smashed 41, which included five big hits.
Brief scores
Mumbai Indians - 187/6 (Simmons 65, Pollard 41, Patel 35, Bravo 3-40)
Chennai Super Kings - 162 (du Plessis 45, Malinga 3-23)
Result - Mumbai Indians won by 25 runs
