IPL: Chennai Super Kings top Mumbai Indians to reach fifth final in six years

Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina added 140 from just 76 balls to take Chennai Super Kings to a huge total of 192 for one.

Michael Hussey, above, combined with Suresh Raina to add 140 from just 76 balls to lead Chennai to the IPL final. Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP

Chennai 192-1 (20 ov)
Mumbai 144 (18.4 ov)

Toss Chennai, chose to bat

Chennai Hussey 86 not out, Raina 82 not out; Pollard 1-28

Mumbai Smith 68, Pollard 24; Bravo 3-9, Jadeja 3-31

Man of the match Michael Hussey (Chennai)

This was a tale of three innings.

Michael Hussey (86 off 58 balls) and Suresh Raina (82 off 42) added 140 from just 76 balls to take Chennai Super Kings to a huge total of 192 for one.

Dwayne Smith responded with a breathtaking 68, but with no other batsman crossing 25, Chennai eased to a 48-run win and a fifth championship final in six seasons of the Indian Premier League.

Chennai's start was steady, rather than spectacular. Hussey clipped Mitchell Johnson's first ball for four and M Vijay then capitalised on Munaf Patel's rustiness in an over that went for 12.

Vijay, who made 23 off 20 balls, went soon after, lofting Kieron Pollard to deep midwicket. At halfway, Chennai had just 69 on the board.

What followed was carnage. A Hussey reverse-sweep and a Raina swipe for six meant 15 from a Pragyan Ojha over, and Raina then smashed sixes off both Harbhajan and Johnson.

The bowlers kept feeding Raina's arc and he obliged with five fours and five sixes.

In the final over, Hussey played an astonishing shot, clipping a full toss for six over short fine leg. The final ball of the innings was fetched from outside off and deposited behind square leg. Chennai had taken 123 off the final 10 overs.

Mumbai started as though they planned to finish the chase in 15 overs. Aditya Tare went early, chipping Albie Morkel to mid-on, but Smith was unstoppable once he found his range. Mohit Sharma was taken for consecutive sixes and in Morkel's next over, he thrashed three fours.

Two sixes off Chris Morris took him to a 21-ball half-century, and Mumbai had 87 from 8.2 overs by the time he miscued Ravindra Jadeja to backward point. Smith's 28-ball knock featured six fours and five sixes.

Dinesh Karthik soon followed, trapped in front, though he walked off protesting here had been a bottom edge. And when the in-form Rohit smashed Morris straight to Dwayne Bravo at long-off, the innings was in disarray.

Pollard lifted spirits briefly with two massive sixes, but Jadeja had the last word as Hussey took a fine low catch at square leg and proved to be effectively the end of the line for Mumbai as their lower order collapsed.

Dileep Premachandran is the managing editor at Wisden India.

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