Chennai knock Mumbai out of IPL

The thrilling victory at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here also paved Chennai’s way to the next Champions League.

The victory was set up by two brilliant partnerships by

Chennai batsmen. First it was the 94-run third-wicket stand between S Badrinath (47) and Michael Hussey (49),which helped

Chennai to recover after being precariously placed at 1 for 2in 1.2 overs.

While the second partnership was the unbeaten 73-run stand between skipper Dhoni (51 off 20) and Dwayne Bravo (33 off 14),which catapulted Chennai to a challenging 187 for five in their stipulated 20 overs.

It was a special innings by Dhoni as he butchered the Mumbai bowlers,blasting six fours and two sixes in his 20-ball whirlwind innings.

For Mumbai,Dhawal Kulkarni (3/46) was the most successful bowler,while Kieron Pollard (1/26) and James Franklin (1/12) took one wicket each.

Chasing the stiff target,Mumbai could muster only 149 for nine in their stipulated 20 overs with opener Dwayne Smith(38) being the top-scorer.

The Chennai bowlers also put up a brilliant show with Dwayne Bravo (2/10) and Albie Morkel (2/31) making the most damage,while SB Jakati (1/25),BW Hilfenhaus (1/45),R Ashwin(1/18),RA Jadeja (1/15) also contributing to the win.

Earlier,invited to bat,Chennai were 47 after nine overs but the defending champions amassed 140 runs off the last 11 overs to set Mumbai a stiff target.

Electing to bowl,skipper Harbhajan Singh led from the front giving away just one run in his first two overs but it was Kulkarni who provided the early breakthrough,removing

Murali Vijay (1) and Suresh Raina (0) in his first two balls.

First he had Vijay (1) caught by Rohit Sharma in the first slip and then had Raina edging onto his middle stump for

a golden duck.

S Badrinath and Mike Hussey rescued Chennai after the early blows but lost some wickets in the middle overs. They were 118-5 in the 16th over.

But skipper Dhoni turned the screws on and showed some urgency making 32 runs in 12 balls. Bravo was giving him able support at the other end scoring briskly.

Dhoni started his innings in inimitable style by whipping Pollard over the infield to deep mid wicket fence. Dhoni also played his trademark helicopter short to notch up a mammoth six off Franklin.

Dhoni cut loose in the 16th over,smacking three boundaries and getting 14 useful runs in the same over.

In 17th over,Bravo and Dhoni plundered strokeful 13 runs off Malinga. After smacking a beautiful four off RP Singh,Bravo brought up Chennai total to 150 in the 18th over with a single to deep midwicket. Bravo again drove past extra cover for a boundary in the 18th over off RP Singh.

Dhoni and Bravo took Malinga to the cleaners hitting one six and two boundaries and getting 18 runs in the crucial 19th over en route to their 50-run partnership in the over.

In the 20th over,Bravo blasted two more sixes to swell the total further.