Chennai Super Kings got a taste of their own medicine, a heavy dose at that, as Mumbai Indians upstaged them at their den for the second time this season to seal a spot in the final of the Indian Premier League here on Tuesday.

Throughout this IPL season, the slow, treacherous pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with uneven bounce and sharp turn has dented the reputation of a few big names. The Qualifier 1 played out to a similar plot as CSK lost to Mumbai Indians by six wickets.

If out of 120 legal deliveries, 50 are dot balls it reflects how the batting side has been strangled. The hosts, electing to bat, huffed and puffed to 131/4 despite an unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 66 off 48 balls between skipper MS Dhoni (37*) and Ambati Rayudu (42*).

Mumbai reached 132/4 in 18.3 overs to enter the IPL final for the fifth time, steered by Suryakumar Yadav’s (71no – 54b, 10x4) second half-century of the season. CSK now face the winner of the Eliminator, between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

Early setback

When Dhoni came to bat in the 13th over, only 65 runs had been scored with the top four batsmen out. If MI bowling was too hot to handle, captain Rohit Sharma spiced it up with changes in personnel. He used six different bowlers in the first eight overs. In fact, barring Jasprit Bumrah’s two-over spell at the end, no one got two overs in a row. All four wickets were snared by the three Mumbai spinners.

If Rohit’s plan was to unsettle the hosts, he more than succeeded. What aided his side was the tendency of the CSK batsmen, even Shane Watson and Suresh Raina, to play across the line.

The slide began in the third over. Faf du Plessis was deceived by the bounce of a Rahul Chahar leg-break and his cut went straight to substitute Anmolpreet Singh at backward point.

With Raina and Watson together, much was expected. That the pitch here is not conducive for heaves and hoicks should have been known by now. The spinners extract turn and need to be tackled with skill. Still, in the fourth over, Raina could not resist the urge to play against the spin off Jayant Yadav and was caught by the bowler, playing only his second game of the season.

Two overs later, Watson mistimed playing against the spin against Krunal Pandya to be caught at mid-on. With the powerplay overs fetching only 32 runs for three wickets, Ambati Rayudu and Murali Vijay chose to play safe. They waited for their chance to hit as CSK did not lose a wicket, scoring 33 runs in the next six overs.

What CSK needed at this point was a fast push and that came with the arrival of Dhoni, after Vijay was stumped by Quinton de Kock off Chahar. He ended the fans’ long wait for a six in the 14th over by Jayant. Rayudu too joined in the charge. The two ensured no further damage was done and even picked 15 off the penultimate over by Lasith Malinga to get CSK past 130.

With CSK boasting of Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja, a fightback was expected. Deepak Chahar set it up brilliantly by trapping Rohit Sharma leg before off the second ball of the innings.

Harbhajan then picked de Kock in the fourth over. But then defending a low total requires taking even the half-chances. CSK fielders were not up to the task.

First, Murali Vijay dropped Suyakumar on 11, and again the MI no 3 was let off by Watson at first slip while batting on 53, off Ravindra Jadeja. Not only did he complete his seventh IPL half-century, he was also involved in an 80-run stand for the third wicket with Ishan Kishan. Though Tahir got Kishan and Krunal off successive deliveries in the 14th over, MI had victory within sight by then.

First Published: May 07, 2019 23:38 IST