Chennai Super Kings Win IPL 3 Trophy As Mumbai Indians Struggle despite Tendulkar, Pollard Threat

The Chennai Super Kings were not going to let the opportunity of lifting the IPL 3 Trophy go for a second time in three years. A lion hearted performance against the uproarious Mumbai Indians fulfilled their much awaited dream and another achievement for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

suresh raina parthiv patel csk

Suresh Raina lived to tell a glorious tale. Two dropped catches and Raina knew he had to make good on what appeared to be his night. The Mumbai Indians missed an opportunity to put their foot around the necks of the Chennai Super Kings who stood up to the test and came out triumphant.

The CSK, batting first, at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, the venue for the IPL 3 final, went about their job cautiously and although a lot was expected from Murali Vijay and Matthew Hayden, the exit of Subramaniam Badrinath, the second wicket for Dilhara Fernando meant that the CSK were reduced to three wickets lost for sixty-seven runs in the twelfth over.

Seeming to go nowhere, the team that scored the lowest number of runs in the powerplay overs of the IPL finals had one player score the fastest fifty in the IPL finals. Suresh Raina joined skipper Dhoni at the crease and what followed was a hectic, fast paced partnership that saw Raina live dangerously and then, capitalize on it.

The runs that had come in trickled effect were now flowing unceasingly as Raina did not stop to think of the mishaps. Fernando and Abhishek Nayyar were caught passing the buck to each other as the miscued shot fell between them much to the agony of Zaheer Khan. But Zaheer himself was embarrassed as he dropped Raina himself. Raina's fifty-seven runs off thirty-five balls were worth their weight in gold and his partnership with Dhoni, the turning point of the match, at least one of three.

Dhoni knew Sachin Tendulkar had declared himself fit and six stitches or not, Tendulkar would not be an easy target to hit. Expectedly CSK had to bid their time patiently. Shikar Dhawan perished but Tendulkar stood like a rock between Chennai Super Kings and victory.

Chennai's only options were to run Tendulkar out of partners, but Nayyar was doing the job himself. The Chennai Super Kings, although sharp in the field, kept missing the opportunities to run out either batsmen on at least three occasions. However, the moment came when Nayyar himself gave them an easy one, going for a non-existent run and losing his wicket, earning the anger of the captain.

Harbhajan Singh was promoted up the order and while the move appeared to be a good one, his lbw decision signalled that MI were in a spot of bother at three down for seventy-three in the twelfth over, as the run rate piled on thanks to the tight bowling by Ravichandran Ashwin once again at the start along with Doug Bollinger.

But Tendulkar stood resolute until he lost his patience, holing out to Murali Vijay off Shadab Jakati for forty-eight runs as Chennai scented victory with MI four down for ninety-nine in the fifteen overs. But the decision to keep Kieron Pollard further down the order perhaps proved the undoing of the Mumbai Indians' campaign in the final.

When Pollard stepped onto the field, he gave the dejected local fans plenty to cheer about. Suddenly the run rate was fast becoming less of an issue as Pollard clobbered the bowlers and was particularly harsh on Bollinger, taking twenty-two runs off him in the seventeen over. On the brink of victory, the Chennai Super Kings were in danger of losing it all again.

Albie Morkel, Dhoni and Hayden worked in collusion to get Pollard caught at mid off for twenty-seven runs from only ten balls as Chennai put an end to that threat, winning the match by twenty-two runs as the run rate had always been too high for everyone in the Mumbai Indian camp except perhaps Tendulkar and Pollard.

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