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>After Pollard takes the side to 149, the bowlers peg back Chennai Super Kings despite Watson’s valiant effort; Malinga delivers the knockout punch Big men show up in a Cup final. Amidst the pressures and the demands of the summit clash, they display character. Some thundering drives from the hefty Kieron Pollard (41 off 25 balls) piloted Mumbai Indians to 149 for eight here on Sunday night. Lasith Malinga, who had gone for 42 runs in his first three overs, was entrusted with the task of bowling the final over with Chennai Super Kings needing nine runs. The Sri Lankan made his experience count with an accurate over. With two off the last delivery, he trapped Shardul Thakur in front to trigger celebrations in the Mumbai dugout. It was a heartbreaking loss for Super Kings, especially Shane Watson, who had resurrected the innings with a brilliant counterattacking 80 off just 59 balls (eight fours, four sixes). The Australian was run out off the fourth ball of the final over, tilting the scales in Mumbai’s favour. Earlier, Pollard finished the innings with two blistering cover drives off fellow Trinidadian Dwayne Bravo and Mumbai had some runs to play with. Pollard, though, was an angry West Indian in the last over after the umpire did not signal a wide off a Bravo delivery outside off. He took strike about six yards away from his off-stump for the next delivery, Bravo stopped in his tracks and the umpires had a word with Pollard before sanity returned. Incision and control The cauldron that the IPL final is, can do strange things to you. Then Mumbai fought hard on the field. The bowling had incision and control. Mumbai Indians celebrate their victory after defeating Chennai Super Kings in the IPL final on Sunday | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak Faf du Plessis, stroking the ball crisply on either side, was foxed by a widish delivery from Krunal Pandya; he gave the left-arm spinner the charge and was stumped. Suresh Raina fell to a Rahul Chahar delivery that hurried off the pitch and went straight through. And Ambati Rayudu was bounced out by Jasprit Bumrah. Then the key man, M.S. Dhoni, was run-out by the narrowest of margins by a direct throw from Ishan Kishan from deep cover. CSK had a fight on its hands. Things started differently for Mumbai Indians after it decided to set a target. de Kock on fire Quinton de Kock, with nifty footwork, innovated and created at the start. Deepak Chahar was creamed for three sixes in the third over; whipped from outside off, lofted, inside-out, over extra-cover and timed a length delivery, angled across, over long-off. At the other end, the smooth-stroking Rohit Sharma pulled a short ball from Deepak Thakur over the ropes and then swept Harbhajan Singh. MI had sped to 44 for no loss in 4.4 overs when Thakur surprised and scalped de Kock with a quick, skiddy short-pitched delivery. de Kock was late on to the pull. Then, Chahar, taken off by Dhoni after the pounding in the third over, was brought back by the skipper in the sixth over. This was an inspired move. Chahar has bowled capably against the right-handed Rohit in the competition and got the Mumbai skipper with a knuckle ball just outside off. Deceived by the change of pace, Rohit nicked and Dhoni completed a smart catch. At the end of the PowerPlay, Mumbai was 45 for two and CSK had clawed its way back. Imran Tahir has been influential for CSK with his changes of length, flight, dip and turn and he got the important wicket of the in-form Suryakumar Yadav with a quicker, fuller delivery that was not quite there for the chop. This was Tahir’s 25th scalp in this IPL, equalling Rabada’s tally of 25. Then Tahir, bowling with heart and craft, defeated the left-handed Ishan Kishan’s attempt to slog him with a delivery that held its line. He now was the highest wicket-taker this season. Tantalising duel Tahir bowled beautifully, giving the ball air and daring the big-built Pollard to use his shoulders. It was a tantalising duel. It was only when Tahir pitched short that Pollard deposited the ball in the crowd. This was a day when Thakur bowled with some hostility and fire. Krunal Pandya miscued a pull off a skiddy short pitched delivery and Thakur covered around 25 yards to hang on to the catch. He would have snapped up Hardik Pandya too, on four, but Raina, after circling around the catch, spilled the offering. Then, Hardik unleashed the helicopter shot. These additional runs hurt Chennai.<doc-sep>It came down to the final ball, Lasith Malinga held his nerve, he had nine runs to defend, he conceded seven and Mumbai Indians scraped home by 1 run and this one run was enough to hand them their fourth IPL title. Rohit Sharma became the most successful captain in the history of the league and for MS Dhoni, it was a matter of being very close, but not over the line. The skipper said after the match that it was game where the bowlers stood up and delivered and that although it was not the perfect season for his side, on the day when it mattered the most, the team which made the least mistakes won. ALSO READ: Out or Not out - MS Dhoni run out drama costs CSK title - Watch “As a team we had a good season. But we need to go back and reflect on how we reached the finals. It’s not one of those years where we played really great cricket to reach here. The middle order wasn’t great, and today it was very funny as to how both teams were only passing on the trophy from one team to the other. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, the team that made one lesser mistake won. I think the bowlers did really well for us, even today it was definitely more than a 150 wicket,” Dhoni said. He also said that the focus will now shift to the World Cup and only after that, can they sit and decide to plug the gaps which were very evident this season. And as a parting word, the CSK skipper also said that hopefully, he will be back next season as well. ALSO READ: Twitter erupts after MI clinch thriller to win fourth title “We have to go to our drawing board, and there is no real time for that now. We need to go into the World Cup and after that we need to see the gaps that we can fill. Nothing against the bowlers, it’s the batsmen who need to step up. [Will he be there in the next season?] Hopefully ye,” he further added. Chasing a target of 150, CSK were cruising along courtesy a brilliant innings by Shane Watson, but then Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga combined brilliantly in the final two overs as Mumbai clinched their fourth IPL title. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allow="encrypted-media" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;"><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>
Rohit Sharma won his fifth IPL title and has never lost a final (IANS Photo) Rohit Sharma became the most successful captain in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL) after leading Mumbai Indians to their record 4th title on Sunday. Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by 1 run in a nerve-wracking last-ball thriller at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma failed with the bat but Mumbai Indians managed to post 149 for 5, thanks to Kieron Pollard's 25-ball 41 on his 32nd birthday. Shane Watson hammered 80 from just 59 balls but his efforts ended in vain as Chennai Super Kings failed to get 9 in the last over bowled by Lasith Malinga. The Sri Lanka veteran had conceded 42 runs in his 1st 3 overs but gave away only 7 runs in the thrilling last over. With Mumbai Indians win on Sunday, Rohit Sharma became the only player to win 5 IPL titles. Harbhajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu are 2nd on the list with 4th titles each. Rohit Sharma is arguably the Super King of T20 tournaments as he was won 9 out of 10 finals in his career. Rohit has won the World T20 in 2007 with India, the Champions League 2013 with Mumbai Indians, the Asia Cup in 2006 with India and the Nidahas Trophy in 2018. When it comes to IPL, Rohit won his first title with Deccan Chargers in 2009. In 2013, Rohit won his first title as captain when he led Mumbai Indians to their first title. Rohit repeated the feat in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and maintained a perfect record in the IPL final. Rohit Sharma was brilliant with his bowling changes and fielding moves as Mumbai Indians held their nerves in the IPL 2019 final despite being extremely sloppy on the field. Ambati Rayudu had a phenomenal season with the bat in IPL 2018 as he lit up Chennai Super Kings' return to the IPL. Rayudu smashed 602 runs, including a hundred and 3 fifties, in 16 matches in the last season. However, Rayudu struggled with the bat, managing just 282 runs at a paltry average of 23.50. Rayudu has 3 IPL titles with Mumbai Indians and 1 with Chennai Super Kings. On the other hand, Harbhajan Singh who had spent 10 successful years with Mumbai Indians before moving to Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2019 has four titles -- 3 with MI and 1 with CSK.