The Hindu
The Mumbai Indians team celebrates its triumph against Royal Challengers in the final of the CLT20 on
Mumbai Indians spun a web of deceit around Royal Challengers Bangalore
to win the Champions League T20 title at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium,
here on Sunday.
Skipper Harbhajan Singh's off-breaks and Yuzvendra Chahal's leg-spin
accounted for five RCB wickets, while giving away just 29 runs in a
total of seven overs, as Mumbai defended its modest 139, restricting the
pursuer to 108 all out.
The winning side became the second Indian team, after Chennai Super Kings in 2010, to claim the CLT20 crown.
RCB had scored in excess of 200 in its last three matches, but found the
going tough on a track that didn't quite assist shot making. Its star
cast of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli aggregated 43
runs in 51 balls, and the remaining batsmen, smothered by accurate
bowling, never got the chase on track after the marquee names departed.
RCB made the early push through Dilshan (27, 20b, 5x4) who picked
boundaries off medium-pacer Abu Nechim before losing his off-stump to
country man Lasith Malinga in the fifth over.
Gayle goes
RCB was 38 then, and four runs later, in the last over of the Powerplay,
Harbhajan snared the first of his three wickets, trapping dangerman
Gayle in front with straighter one from around the wicket.
After the first six overs, RCB was 42 for two, eerily similar to the 43
for two that Mumbai had found itself on at the same stage.
Chahal accounted for Mayank Agrawal, who lofted to long-off with
unfortunate precision, and a fell blow was landed when Harbhajan picked
up Kohli in the 12th over, the petulant batsman's slog-sweep coming to
rest with Aiden Blizzard at mid-wicket.
Kohli's exit was an ominous portent as the batsmen that followed looked
to hit out of trouble, ending only in squandering their wickets.
The noose tightened further when Arun Karthik lofted Chahal to Pollard.
Mohd. Kaif was out next, slicing Pollard's slower ball to cover and
leaving RCB 49 to get off the last four overs.
Skipper Vettori became his counterpart's third victim when he was
stumped, and all pretences to a realistic chase were snuffed out when
Saurabh Tiwari's struggling knock was cut short on 17. RCB's innings
ended in the last over, when R. Sathish held Raju Bhatkal at long-on off
the bowling of Abu Nechim.
Three run-outs
Earlier, Mumbai Indians elected to bat on a pitch expected to keep low
and endured three run-outs and a mid-innings collapse to stutter to 139
all out in 20 overs.
The first wicket came about in farcical circumstances: Blizzard
clobbered Dirk Nannes to mid-off and took off, even as his partner Sarul
Kanwar refused to budge from the non-striker's end.
The throw to the ‘keeper caught both batsmen at the same end, necessitating Blizzard's long walk back to the pavilion.
By the time the Powerplay was over, Mumbai had lost its other opener —
Kanwar, bowled by Nannes — with the left-right combination of James
Franklin and Ambatti Rayudu taking things forward. The two constituted
the most productive part of Mumbai's innings, adding 41 in 5.2 overs for
the third wicket.
Rayudu got out when he tried forcing all-rounder Bhatkal through the
off-side field, but found the huge clasp of Chris Gayle stationed at the
edge of the circle.
New man Suryakumar Yadav joined Franklin in the middle and moved around
in the crease to hit Dilshan for four and six in the 13th over.
Yadav was content thereafter to run the singles and it was one such
cheeky attempt that cost him his wicket. A ball after the innings 100
came up, an alert Vettori lobbed Franklin's return shot to the stumps
and caught Yadav backing up a yard too far.
The wicket initiated Mumbai's slide into mediocrity as it lost three more wickets — including Franklin (41, 29b, 2x4, 2x6) to another run-out, and the dangerous Pollard, who was pouched by Kohli at long-off — for just four runs.
The innings descended from 105 for three to 109 for seven, and it
required another Malinga cameo, inclusive of two sixes, to allow the
team to 139. Mumbai scored 30 runs in the last five overs and lost five
wickets.
Expensive throughout the tournament, Nannes redeemed himself with match
figures of 4-0-14-1, while Vettori pitched in with two wickets and a
run-out.
The scores: Mumbai Indians: A. Blizzard (run out) 3 (4b), S. Kanwar b Nannes 13 (14b, 1x4, 1x6), A. Rayudu c Gayle b Bhatkal 22 (21b, 1x4, 1x6), J. Franklin (run out) 41 (29b, 2x4, 2x6), S. Yadav (run out) 24 (17b, 2x4, 1x6), K. Pollard c Kohli b Vettori 2 (5b), R. Sathish c Agarwal b Bhatkal 9 (9b, 1x6), Harbhajan lbw b Vettori 0 (2b), L. Malinga c Aravind b Bhatkal 16 (11b, 2x6), A. Nechim (not out) 2 (4b), Y. Chahal c Gayle b Aravind 2 (4b); Extras (lb-1, w-4): 5; Total (in 20 overs): 139.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-24, 3-65, 4-105, 5-108, 6-109, 7-109, 8-135, 9-135.
RCB bowling: Dilshan 4-0-34-0, Nannes 4-0-14-1, Aravind 4-0-33-1, Vettori 4-0-30-2, Bhatkal 3-0-21-3, Gayle 1-0-6-0.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: T. Dilshan b Malinga 27 (20b, 5x4), C. Gayle lbw b Harbhajan 5 (12b,1x4), V. Kohli c Blizzard b Harbhajan 11 (19b, 1x4), M. Agarwal c Pollard b Chahal 14 (19b, 1x4), S. Tiwary c Harbhajan b Nechim 17 (22b, 1x6), Arun Karthik c Pollard b Chahal 0 (3b), M. Kaif c Kanwar b Pollard 3 (7b), D. Vettori st Rayudu b Harbhajan 1 (2b), R. Bhatkal c Sathish b Nechim 6 (8b), S. Aravind b Malinga 4 (4b), D. Nannes (not out) 0 (1b), Extras (b-4, lb-1, w-14, nb-1): 20; Total (in 19.2 overs): 108.
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-42, 3-67, 4-73, 5-74, 6-81, 7-92, 8-98, 9-108.
Mumbai Indians bowling: Malinga 4-0-23-2, Nechim 3.2-0-26-2, Harbhajan 4-0-20-3, Pollard4-0-21-1, Chahal 3-0-9-2, Franklin 1-0-4-0.
