Journalism of Courage
Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina gave a certain amount of respect to good deliveries during their unbeaten 140-run stand for the second wicket. If a bowler,for example Lasith Malinga in his first three overs or Harbhajan Singh during his four-over spell,wasnt offering width,they were prepared to wait for the poor ball instead of trying to hit out to keep the run-rate above nine an over.
If a fielder was deep,singles were converted into twos as the 37-year-old Australian matched the Indian,eleven years his junior,across 22 yards. There was the occasional ‘yes-no,and a chance was spilled. Hussey and Raina contributed in almost equal proportion as Chennai posted 192 for one.
Dwayne Smith,the Mumbai Indians opener,single-handedly threatened to take his team into the final with 68 off just 28 balls,an innings in which 54 runs came in boundaries,including five sixes. Smiths timing and power sent the ball back over the bowlers heads or over deep-mid-wicket and fine leg as he reached his half-century in 21 balls.
The medium pacers Mohit Sharma,Albie Morkel and Chris Morris were ineffective,and following a strategic time-out MS Dhoni turned to his spinners. Ravichandran Ashwins first over,the eighth of the innings,cost 14 runs and Smith was starting to make the imposing total look modest.
Next up was Ravindra Jadeja,the left-arm spinner who is often a partnership breaker. On this occasion,it was Smiths impatience that led to his dismissal. The first ball he faced from Jadeja,Smith tried to hit the spinner out of the ground only to get a thick leading edge that Raina didnt drop.
Jadeja kept bowling straight,full and at times quick through the air. Dinesh Karthik was trapped leg before wicket trying to sweep. Kieron Pollards attempt to pull off a Smith,after he hit Jadeja for two consecutive sixes,ended when he was cramped for room and hit the ball to Hussey manning the circle on the leg-side to give Jadeja his third wicket. Once Jadeja swung the momentum back,Mumbai struggled to meet the asking rate as Chennai entered their fifth final thanks largely to the total set-up by Hussey and Raina.
Against two batsmen who are building a reputation of putting together match-winning partnerships this season,the Mumbai Indians bowlers,including Lasith Malinga who conceded 19 runs in the final over of the innings,failed to maintain a testing line or length. Hussey and Raina put on an exhibition of skill and power when they added 133 in 72 balls against Hyderabad Sunrisers a fortnight ago. On Tuesday at the Ferozeshah Kotla their approach was similar.
Superior stroke-making
The Mumbai Indians bowlers not only erred in width but gifted full tosses to allow Hussey and Raina to ease the pressure. Malinga was chiefly responsible when his attempted yorkers in the final over of the Chennai innings ended up as full tosses that Raina and Hussey put away. Mitchell Johnson and Munaf Patel too were guilty of over pitching.
Husseys superior technique also allowed him to put away good balls,like when he stepped down the track to hit Harbhajan Singh,the tidiest of the Mumbai bowlers,inside out for an extra-cover boundary. Though Raina largely relies on timing and power he too displayed slick footwork by stepping down the track to launch Harbhajan over extra-cover. When the delivery was short and wide,like Johnsons invitation to hit in the 13th over,Raina smashed him over cover.
When Raina was just past fifty he was dropped at deep square-leg by Dwayne Smith off the bowling of Pollard,but other than this opportunity that was spilled,neither Raina nor Hussey gave Mumbai a chance to break the partnership.
