Journalism of Courage
For Mumbai Indians,who were desperate to break their IPL title duck,their second appearance in the final couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. They lost Dwayne Smith in the first over after Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat in front of a capacity turnout. After back-to-back half centuries in his last two matches,Smith was out for four. Aditya Tare was dismissed in the next over without troubling the scorers. Then Rohit departed,caught and bowled by Albie Morkel for two,and Mumbai were 16 for three in the fourth over.
Dinesh Karthik (21) and Ambati Rayudu (37) forged a 36-run partnership for the fourth wicket but they struggled to up the ante. Only 34 runs were scored in the power-play overs. Karthik was out when he dragged one from Chris Morris on to his stumps. In came Kieron Pollard. The big man did everything to unsettle the Chennai bowlers who had till then kept a tight leash on the opposition. Pollard started to pick the gaps.
On 37,he was deceived by a slower one from Morris,and his bat flew out of his grasp,high into the air,and dropped on to the turf near short midwicket. Pollard changed his gloves and resumed where he had left off. Mumbai lost four wickets in their last three overs. But with Pollard in the middle,they also scored 36 off those overs,with the big Trinidadian smacking Dwayne Bravo for sixes off the last two balls of the innings to push Mumbai’s total to 148 for nine.
It seemed just about par for a final. But after the Chennai Super Kings top and middle order collapsed to leave them reeling at 39 for six,there was little even MS Dhoni could do to prevent Mumbai from winning their first IPL title. Chennai had been bundled out for 79 against Mumbai in a league game at the Wankhede. On Sunday,they managed 125 for nine to lose by 23 runs.
With so much swirling around off the field,it must have been difficult for Chennai to concentrate on cricket. And whatever resolve they had was blown away in a fiery first spell from Lasith Malinga. In his very first over,he dismissed Chennai’s two most in-form batsmen.
Weaknesses exposed
A perfect yorker castled Michael Hussey,and off the very next ball Suresh Raina was out fending at a lifter aimed at his ribcage. The left-hander’s weakness against the short ball was once again exposed,but more importantly for Mumbai,it was a decisive blow. Hussey and Raina had scored 86 not out and 82 not out as Chennai had rolled them over in the first Qualifier in Delhi. They made 1 and 0,respectively,in the final.
Mitchell Johnson then got rid of Subramaniam Badrinath,caught behind driving at a wide delivery angled across him,and Chennai were three for three. Dwayne Bravo and Murali Vijay put on 32 for the fourth wicket,but after the former chipped a Rishi Dhawan slower ball straight to mid on,Chennai lost another clump of wickets. Mumbai had one hand on the cup. Harbhajan Singh provided the finishing touches with two wickets in his three overs.
Chennai have recovered many times from early reverses. They are a side who revel under pressure. But tonight they played in unusual circumstances. They had lost six wickets inside the first eight overs with just 39 runs on the board. And there was little resistance from the lower-middle order except Dhoni’s 63 not out in 45 balls.
The skipper fought alone,but he had always been fighting a losing battle. In the end,he was reduced to declining singles to ensure that his team lasted their 20 overs. He smashed Pollard for two sixes and a four in the final over,but it didn’t matter at all,since they had started it needing 42 from six balls.
Sachin retires from IPL
Sachin Tendulkar will not play the next season of the IPL,the Mumbai Indians batsman confirmed at the end of the final at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. “I think this is the right time to go. I am 40. We have to be realistic about it. I’ve played six seasons with the Mumbai Indians and I have completely enjoyed it. This was the best season for Mumbai Indians. Before this 2010 was the best season,” Tendulkar said.Tendulkar didn’t feature in the final or the play-off because of a hand injury but his form was below par this season as he scored 287 runs in 14 innings with a top-score of 54.
