Lasith Malinga defended nine runs off the last over as Mumbai Indians edged Chennai Super Kings by one run to lift their fourth IPL title. With two needed off the last ball, the Sri Lanka and Mumbai Indians legend trapped Shardul Thakur LBW to send the Mumbai Indians fans into a frenzy at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Shane Watson, the man who won CSK the final in the last edition, was threatening to take it away from Mumbai with an imperious 59-ball 80 but it went in vain as Mumbai held their nerve at the death. Maling had been hit around the park for 42 runs from three previous overs but he showed his true class and also proved that he is a crunch moment player by defending 9 runs off the last over. Earlier, Kieron Pollard had pulled Mumbai out of trouble to propel them to 149 with a breezy innings of 41 not out off 25 balls. The two veterans – Malinga and Pollard – showcased their big game mettle and showed why they are such an integral part of the franchise over the years as they helped Mumbai win their fourth title. Opting to bat first, Mumbai Indians posted 149/8 thanks to a late burst from Kieron Pollard (41 off 25 balls). Chasing the target, Faf du Plessis got CSK off to a breezy start. His battle with Krunal Pandya was intriguing. Rohit handed the ball to Krunal in the second over and he nearly had du Plessis off the first ball as the leading edge flew just wide off the diving Krunal off his own bowling. Du Plessis then took on the elder Pandya brother in his next over hitting four, six and four but it was Krunal who had the last laugh as he outfoxed him with a faster one watching his charge early and de Kock was quick to whip the bails off. This was a chance for MI to apply the choke but Watson went on the counterattack off the last over before Powerplay, scoring 15 off Malinga's over including two fours and a six. There was drama again in CSK's 7th over when Raina was adjudged caught behind off a venomous bouncer from Mitchell McClenaghan but the CSK vice-captain decided to review it. It looked that the ball had flicked the glove at the first instance but the snicko replays showed no spike. The decision was overturned. Watson, meanwhile, seemed in the flow but against the run of the play, he top-edged one to fine leg off McClenaghan but Malinga made a mess of it and the Australian survived. MI needed a wicket now and leg spinner Rahul Chahar, who has impressed right through the season, provided the much-needed breakthrough as he trapped Raina LBW in his second over. Bumrah bounced out Ambati Rayudu in the next over and Mumbai were back into the match. Two overs later, there was drama again, it was probably a match-changing moment where Dhoni was given out run out by the third umpire. It was a very close call. Dhoni and Watson scampered through for a second on the overthrow and Kishan knocked down the stumps at the non-striker's end as Dhoni desperately tried to complete the run. The side angle, on the replays, showed Dhoni's bat inches behind the crease but the front angle found him short and after a long break, the umpire pressed the OUT button. An over later, CSK would have been in huge trouble had Chahar held on to a tough caught and bowled chance of Watson off his own bowling. Chahar finished off a brilliant spell with figures of 4-0-14-1. Just when it seemed Mumbai were no top, the match turned on its head again. As Watson went berserk in the 16th over with 62 required off 30. It was Bravo who started off the assault on Malinga with a powerfully flicked six over deep mid-wicket. A single later, Watson hit three consecutive fours to bring up his fifty off 44 balls. A single off the last ball made it 20 off the over. A seemingly quiet Watson had found his rhythm and when he finds his rhythm he is ominous. But Mumbai could have had him back in the hut off the next ball. They didn't. It was their poor fielding that hurt them again as Chahar dropped a simple one at deep square leg off a mistimed pull from Watson off Bumrah. It was a brilliant over from Bumrah as he conceded just 4 runs off it. With 38 needed off 18, the match see-sawed again as Watson went bonkers against Krunal and clobbered him for three sixes to turn the tide in CSK's favour. With 17 needed off 11, Bumrah had Bravo caught behind. He gave away just 4 off the next three balls but then de Kock made a huge error as he let the ball through his gloves for four byes. With 9 required off the last over. Malinga gave away two singles off the first two balls. Watson then whipped one through mid-wicket for a couple. But then there was another twist in the match. He dug a yorker to deep point and scampered through for a single but was slow in turning back for a second. Krunal responded with a flat throw from the deep and de Kock broke the stumps. Watson was well short on his dive. With 4 required off two balls, Shardul, the new batsman, then mistimed his heave off a full toss behind square leg for a couple to bring the equation down to 2 off 1. However, Malinga showed his class as he trapped Shardul LBW off the final ball, with his classic slower one, to clinch the win for Mumbai. Earlier, Kieron Pollard's late burst propelled Mumbai Indians to 149/8. Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Mumbai Indians got off to a brisk start as openers Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma added 45 from 4.5 overs. Deepak Chahar had started off well conceding just two runs off the first over. Rohit then injected the momentum when he pulled one over deep square leg off Shardul Thakur for a six. It wasn't quite off the middle but it still flew over the ropes. De Kock joined the party in the next over as he hammered three sixes off Chahar - One over deep mid-wicket with his typical whip, one over deep point via a slash and one over extra cover via a well-timed loft. MS Dhoni introduced spin in the fourth over, handing over the ball to the trusted Harbhajan Singh who has done a good job in the Powerplays. After five good balls, the off-spinner drifts one onto Rohit's pads and he sweeps it behind square leg for a four. The CSK captain brought back Shardul from the other end. The battle between Shardul and de Kock had started. De Kock backed away but Shardul saw it early and delivered it a touch wide, de Kock looked to cut but missed. Shardul bowled the next one short outside off, de Kock responded with a hook over deep mid-wicket for a six. The Mumbai pacer, however, wasn't flustered and bowled another bouncer, this time on the South African's body. De Kock was surprised by the pace and cramped for room and ended up top-edging his pull and Dhoni accepted a lollipop. Shardul responded with a fiery send-off. The umpire had to calm him down. Three balls later, Rohit was foxed by a slower one from Chahar, a knuckle ball, as he ended up edging a one-handed swing to Dhoni who pouched a good low catch. It ended up as a wicket maiden. And CSK applied the choke from then on as the next three overs went for just 13 runs before a single boundary. Ishan Kishan then released the pressure valve a bit with two fours in the 10th over, off Dwayne Bravo. Kishan and Suryakumar tried to up the scoring with two more fours off Harbhajan off the next over.<doc-sep>IPL 2019 Final, MI Vs CSK: Watch Lasith Malinga's Heart-Stopping Last Over Against Chennai Super Kings – VIDEO Lasith Malinga produced an incredible last over to defend nine runs as Mumbai Indians (MI) claimed undisputed supremacy in the Indian Premier League (IPL) by securing their fourth title with a one-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a pulsating 2019 final at Hyderabad on Sunday. CSK needed nine runs off the last over but the experienced Sri Lankan pacer Malinga kept his nerve to concede eight. He trapped Shardul Thakur leg before in the last ball after Shane Watson (80 off 59) got run out two balls earlier. Watch it here: Before that Jasprit Bumrah kept Mumbai in the hunt with his tidy overs and two wickets, getting rid of Dwayne Bravo and Ambati Rayudu. The premier Indian pacer produced 13 dot balls in his testing overs. Young leg-spinner Rahul Chahar also played a key role in the middle overs as he too created pressure by bowling 13 dot balls. Both teams were tied at three IPL titles each heading into the finale with Mumbai holding the upper hand, having beaten CSK thrice earlier in the competition. The heart-stopping finish came after a disciplined bowling performance from CSK who restricted Mumbai Indians to 149 for eight. CSK, have now lost to Mumbai for the third time in four finals. (With Agency inputs) For in-depth, objective and more importantly balanced journalism, Click here to subscribe to Outlook Magazine<doc-sep>Chennai Super Kings needed two runs off the final ball, when Rohit Sharma and Lasith Malinga were involved in an extended conversation. Now Rohit and Shardul both are teammates when they play for Mumbai in the domestic circuit and hence, the skipper was well aware of the range of strokes on offer. (Full scorecard) Rohit had kept the on side open to lure Shardul and then Malinga’s slow in-dipper tailed in to find Shardul plumb in-front as MI beat CSK by one run in a pulsating final. Having played a first-class cricket for Mumbai with Shardul, Rohit knew how to bring about the youngster’s downfall. ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma scripts history, becomes IPL’s most successful player “The idea was to get the batsman out. So I know Shardul really well. I kind of understand where he wants to hit, so we decided together (Malinga and him) that we’ll go for that slower option, because knowing Shardul, he would try to play a big shot and there might be a chance that he might just sky it. Again, it could have gone either way,” an elated Rohit said after the match. Rohit was ready to carry the cross had the decision to use Malinga backfired but had a gut feeling that the Sri Lankan will be able to pull it off like Mitchell Johnson did in the 2017 IPL final. Malinga repaid the faith his skipper showed in him defending nine runs off the final over. “When the decision comes off, it looks all nice. It can backfire also. At that stage, I wanted to go with experience, with somebody who has been in such situation before. And Malinga has been in that situation a million times. So we backed him to do that,” the four-time IPL champion skipper said at the post-match media interaction. The situation was eerily similar to what Rohit had faced in the 2017 final when MI beat the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiants by one run in another thrilling finish. ALSO READ: MS Dhoni reveals his future, speaks about the season and World Cup Then it was former Australian pacer Johnson, who defended 11 runs in the final over to pull-off a one-run victory. It was that deja vu moment for the MI skipper. “I clearly remember when we won here in 2017, it was Mitchell Johnson who bowled that last over and defended only 10 runs. So yes, sometimes you’ve got to go with only instincts, sometimes you’ve got to go a little backwards and think what these experienced players have done and what they bring to the table,” Rohit said. For Rohit, the most important thing was going with experience as he remembered how he had handed the ball to Johnson during the 2017 summit clash. “It was a thought when I went with Mitchell because he’s been in that situation. He’s an experienced bowler, a leading bowler. And even today, Malinga has been one of the finest T20 players that we’ve seen. We knew he could give us a chance of winning the game. “Nine runs off the last over, anything can happen but you’ve got to back experience, and that’s what we did,” the skipper said. India’s limited overs vice-captain also became the first player to win five IPL titles with one of them coming with the defunct Deccan Chargers in 2009. “Oh, I forgot that (title with DC). Yeah it is five. It’s so tough to take one out of the five. You see IPL is a very tough tournament to win. So I am not going to pick one, because all those victories, all those finals that we won. One with DC and four with MI, we’ve had exceptional seasons. “I can’t really pick one because every season has its own challenge. For me, all five, I will cherish and remember, and not pick one,” he concluded. (With agency inputs)<doc-sep>
Lasith Malinga turned up with a brilliant final over to win Mumbai a 4th IPL title. | Photo - AP/Twitter | The good old Lasith Malinga turned back the clock yet again as he bowled a superb last over defending 9 runs to hand Mumbai Indians (MI) their record fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) title at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday. It was a cracker of a contest between Chennai Super Kings and MI as the two teams fought tooth and nail in a thriller which went down the wire with the title being decided on the final ball of the season. And it was none other than Malinga who triumphed with an exceptional last over. CSK bowlers did a tremendous job to restrict MI on a modest total of 149/8 with Deepak Chahar (3/26) and Imran Tahir (2/23) producing two brilliant spells. Kieron Pollard was the only bright spot for Mumbai in an otherwise lethargic batting display as the West Indies all-rounder scored 41 runs off 25 balls to help his team post a decent total on the board. In reply, CSK got off to a good start with Faf du Plessis taking on the bowlers in his usual flair. He scored quick 26 off 13 balls before being dismissed by Krunal Pandya. Shane Watson continued to pile on runs from one end but failed to find support from the other as CSK batsmen failed to turn up on the big night. A couple of run-outs and a few poor shot selections cost CSK big as they fell short at the end by just one run. With 9 runs to get from the last over with a set Watson and a fresh Ravindra Jadeja out in the middle, CSK looked on course to the target but Malinga bowled exceptionally well and got his low full tosses right on target to defend 9 runs for his side. He conceded 4 runs off the first three deliveries before Watson departed after being run out. With 4 needed off the last two balls, Shardul took a couple on the penultimate ball and was trapped Lbw by a slower off-cutter on the last ball to hand MI a thrilling win and an unprecedented 4th trophy. Watch video: While Malinga finished with figures of 1/49 in his four overs, Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul Chahar were the stand out bowlers for MI with figures of 2/14 and 1/14 respectively in their 4 overs. Bumrah once again showed his masterclass in the death overs as he cramped CSK batsmen, not allowing them to get runs at a crucial juncture. In the end, it was a matter of margins as CSK ended up on the losing side despite a whopping knock from Watson, who scored a splendid 80 off 59 balls and almost pulled off the chase for his side. However, no support from the other end and a spirited effort from Mumbai Indians saw them clinch the humdinger.