Mumbai Indians (MI) win the IPL Qualifier 1 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to secure their place in the final to be played this Sunday at the historic Wankhede Stadium in Kolkata. The all-round team effort helped MI emerge victorious at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Kieron Pollard – Mumbai Indians

Earlier, MI skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first. Once again its opening pair clicked and gave a solid start with a 90-run partnership for the first wicket. Parthiv Patel 35 (25b, 4s x 4, 6s x 1) and Lendl Simmons 65 (51b, 4s x 3, 6s x 5) were looking magnificent as they scored fluently since the start of the match.

However, both openers got out at a quick succession and brought some tension to MI dressing room. Parthiv departed first while trying to hit a six off Bravo at the 11th over. Unfortunately the ball landed straight into Ravinder Jadeja’s hand at long on. Simmons also got out in the similar fashion. He was caught by Negi while trying to hit Jadeja for a six.

MI’s score was only 113 for 2 at 14th over. With just 6 overs remaining, Rohit Sharma came out in the middle, but he was dismissed soon on 19. Pollard was the sole hope for the team and he did live up to that expectation. Pollard’s powerful performance took Mumbai’s score to a winning total of 187 at the end of 20-overs. The Caribbean right hand batsman scored blitzkrieg knock of 41 off just 17 balls with 5 sixes and 1 four.

Malinga once again proved lethal as he removed Dwayne Smith for a duck in the very first over. Faf du Plessis joined in and looked in perfect form. He was frequently hitting big shots. However, Michael Hussey (16) was caught behind off Vinay Kumar at the 6th over as Chennai lost their both openers. Suresh Raina tried to accelerate the inning, but was caught and bowled by Harbhajan Singh on 25. Raina hit two big sixes before making his way into the dressing room. Skipper Dhoni was removed LBW in the very next ball for Zero as he couldn’t judge Harbhajan’s length and played it across.

Chennai’s score was reduced to 86/4 at the 11th over. Next man to be dismissed was the dangerous looking Faf Du Plessis 45 (34b, 4s x 5. 6s x 1). He gave a simple catch to Vinay Kumar while trying to hit out of the ground. CSK’s score was now 110/5 at the 14th over. They still needed 78 runs to win from just 36 balls. Bravo (20), Jadeja (19) and Ashwin (23) tried their bit with the bat, but couldn’t save the match. Chennai scored just 162/10 after 19-overs and thus gifting a 25 victory to Mumbai Indians. Malinga was at his best with the figure of 4-0-23-3 at an economy rate of just 5.75 RPO.

Tags: Chennai Super Kings, CSK, Indian Premier League, IPL, IPL 2015, IPL 8, MI, Mumbai Indians, Wankhede Stadium