30 May,2014 08:39 AM IST | | Isa Guha
In the final league game of IPL-7, Mumbai Indians pulled off the unthinkable by chasing down 189 runs in 14.4 overs. However, Rohit Sharma's side would stride into the Eliminator under a different kind of pressure
MI owner Nita Ambani looks dejected after the loss to CSK. Pic/IPL
In the final league game of IPL-7, Mumbai Indians pulled off the unthinkable by chasing down 189 runs in 14.4 overs. However, Rohit Sharma's side would stride into the Eliminator under a different kind of pressure.
Isa Guha
After their brilliant comeback, expectations to deliver an encore were sky-high. However, their opponents, CSK, who have always boasted a side full of match-winners, had regained momentum after a clinical effort against Royal Challengers, and were hungry for more.
Dream start
Mumbai accomplished a dream start with Lendl Simmons and Mike Hussey scoring 76 off 9.4 overs before the latter swiped one across the line to Ravindra Jadeja.
Corey Anderson failed to repeat his heroics from the previous game despite a confident six off the first delivery he faced and apart from Simmons' 67, no one went on to score big.
Regular wickets
Mumbai, who were in a position to score 200 finished on 173 due to a cluster of wickets delivered by Mohit Sharma (3-42) and Ashish Nehra (2-34).
MI owner Nita Ambani looks dejected after the loss to CSK. Pic/IPL
While Praveen Kumar extracted early movement and looked threatening, it was Harbhajan Singh who halted an explosive start when he removed the two CSK openers.
However, at 64-2 off 6.5 overs, Chennai still looked in control and Suresh Raina reminded us why he is so successful in this format.
Mumbai's shortage of experienced wicket-takers meant that Raina (54') and Hussey (40') could comfortably navigate their way home inside 19 overs. Chennai proved once again why they are so good in pressure games.
Isa Guha is a former England cricketer turned television expert
