32
Mumbai Indians finally annexed their maiden Indian Premier League title upstaging a jittery Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs in the final at Eden Gardens on Sunday. Mired in spot-fixing controversy after the arrest of owner N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, Chennai Super Kings found the 149-run target, usually an easy task by their standard, a little too much as they finished on 125 for nine on a difficult track. Kieron Pollard (60 not out) was the man-of-the-match for his all-round effort. As soon as the last delivery was bowled by Pollard, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting along with team mentor Anil Kumble rushed to the ground. Just like 2011 World Cup final, Tendulkar did a lap of honour with the teammates like Harbhajan carrying him on their shoulders. Lasith Malinga (2/22) and Mitchell Johnson (2/19) set the tone before Harbhajan Singh (2/14) joined in the act as it was a rare batting disaster for the IPL heavyweights who featured in four straight, five overall, finals. Four of their batsmen including Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja got out for noughts while tournament top-scorer Michael Hussey (1) was dismissed firstup by a perfect Lasith Malinga toe-crusher to set the tone. With the team reeling at 57 for seven after 11th over, there was no chance for the 'Men in Canary Yellow' to make a comeback although Dhoni did try his best. For Mumbai Indians, Eden Gardens remained a happy hunting ground with six wins from seven outings.
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 1st June 2013
Down with a wrist injury, Tendulkar, however, celebrated every moment of their triumph as the trophy was like a 'farewell gift' for the 40-year-old who may not be around in the next season. Mumbai Indians earned a prize purse of Rs100 million, while runners-up Chennai Super Kings were awarded Rs 75 million in the Rs 250 million prize money tournament. Mumbai Indians found themselves at 'home' even while defending a modest 149. The intent became quite clear in the very fourth ball when Malinga, 'the slinger', bowled Michael 'Mr Cricket' Hussey (1), the 'Orange Cap' holder (733 runs), with his typical toe-crushing yorker. A second wicket in the next ball when Suresh Raina (0) was dismissed softly had the Eden crowd on its feet with chants of 'Mumbai Mumbai' all over the stands as Malinga had an ominous first spell that read 2-0-8-2. It was then Johnson's turn to join the party as the Aussie deceived Subramaniam Badrinath (0) with his away swinger as he chased the delivery down to Karthik to make it 3/3 in the second over. Dwayne Bravo (15) and Murali Vijay (18) looked to repair but it seemed to be a Mumbai Indians day. Skipper Rohit Sharma brought in young Rishi Dhawan and he dismissed Bravo who was looking dangerous with three boundaries. Chennai once again lost three wickets in a huff - Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja (0), and Murali Vijay (18) in four runs - to be reduced to 39/6 in the eighth over.
Kieron Pollard
Surprisingly when it needed the most, Dhoni dropped him to no 7 and had his blitz but it was too late with him waging a lone battle as the task became improbable with 58/8 and the asking rate climbing past 11-mark. Earlier, Kieron Pollard stood tall among the ruins with an unbeaten 32-ball 60 as Mumbai Indians posted a modest 148/9. It was a good toss to lose for Dhoni as his seamers duo of Mohit Sharma and Albie Morkel (2/12) rocked Mumbai Indians top order with 16/3 in the fourth over. Later, it was Bravo who earned the 'Orange Cap' in style with his four-wicket blitz in 42 runs that rattled the Mumbai Indians batting as the West Indian became the leading wicket-taker with 32 scalps in season six. The two-time defending champions
played to their reputation as the Dhoni's men played without being affected by the controversy and the script just went their way. The embattled Super Kings could not have asked for a better start with season's 'find' Mohit dismissing Dwayne Smith (4) in the first over. The danger man Smith was trapped right in front when an in-cutter had him plumb in the fourth ball. Aditya Tare's (0) stint lasted for one ball with Morkel rattling the youngster's leg stump in the first ball, and came back in the next over to dismiss Rohit Sharma (2) in a soft manner as the Mumbai skipper's woeful run continued with the bat. Morkel ripped apart the top order in a fine first spell (3-0-12-2) that ensured that Mumbai Indians were under pressure going less than six runs an over at midway stage. From Mumbai's perspective, Rayudu (37) did not do anything silly as he along with Pollard stitched an important 48-run fifth wicket partnership that came off 34 balls. Before it could ring an alarm bell Dhoni brought in Bravo to effect as the West Indian uprooted Rayudu's middle stump. The scalp earned Bravo the Orange Cap by being the leading wicket taker with 32 dismissals. But Bravo went on to concede 17 runs in the 18th over with Harbhajan Singh's eight-ball 14 to help Mumbai's run-rate go past seven-mark. That Pollard stood tall at the other end became the difference in the end as they upstaged the two-time former champions in style.
Last IPL for Sachin, Dravid and Gilchrist India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid and Australian legend Adam Gilchrist have retired from the IPL at the end of 2013 season. Tendulkar who called it quits from the IPL after Mumbai Indians lifted the title, said it was the perfect time to retire from the Twenty20 event as he has to "face the reality" after turning 40. "I think this is the right time to stop playing IPL. I am 40. I have to face the reality. I had decided that this would be my last season. And now the ending is perfect," Tendulkar said after Mumbai beat Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Tendulkar, who played 78 IPL matches accumulating 2,334 runs at an average of 34.83, had to stay out of the final after failing to recover from a left hand injury that he picked up a fortnight ago in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rahul Dravid who announced his retirement said, "At 41, 12 months is a long way away. Luckily we have qualified for the Champions League (in October) which is a few months away. You know, I think that would be it," the 40-year-old said after
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Adam Gilchrist
Rajasthan Royals went out of the IPL following a four-wicket loss to the Mumbai Indians in the second Qualifier. Dravid enthralled his fans showing some great agility and a new-found aggression in leadership especially at a time when his team was battling spotfixing allegations, which led to the arrest of its three players. Starting out as a dark horse, Rajasthan Royals enjoyed a fairytale run as it challenged all the big teams, had a dream eight out of eight home wins and almost made the final before losing to Mumbai Indians in a nail-biting penultimate ball finish on Friday. "It's always disappointing when you lose a game. It was a close game, one of those which could have gone either way. Unfortunately we ended up on the losing side. But all the boys should be proud with the way we fought today and ended our campaign," Dravid said.
Poor form and dwindling fortunes of Kings XI Punjab in the tournament forced its captain Adam Gilchrist to call it a day. However, he will play in the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). During a press conference at Dharamsala, the Punjab captain answered a query regarding his continuation: "I am looking like a 22-year-old, you say?" "I am not feeling that way. And for the first 50 runs against Bangalore, I felt like a 52-year-old. But it's great. Last year, I sat here and said I am finished, I probably won't come back, but I came back. I am not looking for any grandstand finish but in two days, it will be last time I play on this ground. Little things like that are really extiing and lift your enthusiam levels. I just love this place, this region, it's been one of the greatest experiences of my cricketing life, to be able to come up here and play cricket," he said.