IPL 2019: Final, MI vs CSK - Who Said What

A thriller of a game to end the Indian Premier League (IPL). Mumbai Indians (MI) literally clinched victory from the jaws of defeat in the final over from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Lasith Malinga was the villain only a few overs ago and many raised eyebrows when he was given the last over. But the veteran did it for MI in the last over as he flummoxed Shardul Thakur off the final ball. Mumbai won the match by just 1 run to win their fourth IPL title.

After opting to bat first, Quinton de Kock slammed few sixes to Deepak Chahar but Shardul Thakur bounced him out with a brilliant delivery. Rohit Sharma’s underwhelming season came to an end in the same way as he was flummoxed by Chahar with a knuckle ball. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav then rebuilt with a 37-run stand but MI lost all the momentum they had gained in the powerplay.

Both the batsmen got out soon even Krunal Pandya also failed to leave Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya to do the finishing job. The duo played cautiously until 17 overs and then attacked Shardul Thakur to eke out 16 runs off his over. But Dwayne Bravo and Chahar bowled exceptionally well in the last two overs to restrict Mumbai to just 149 runs for the loss of eight wickets.

The birthday boy Kieron Pollard remained unbeaten on 41 off just 25 deliveries with three fours and as many sixes and was responsible to add eight runs in the last two balls of the innings.

Watson’s heroic knock went in vain

The chase began superbly for CSK with Faf du Plessis going hard in the first few overs. But he got out to Krunal Pandya and then the focus shifted to Shane Watson who rode his luck to take the game deep. There was a lot of drama throughout the 20 overs with CSK coming back every time they were put under the pump thanks to Watto. Even Mumbai kept on coming back.

However, the 16th over bowled by Malinga went for 20 runs and everyone felt CSK will win. But there was a huge twist in the tale and the Lankan legend lived up to his billing eventually in the last over to gain back all the respect. Watson inexplicably got run out in the final over and then it was all about the nerves which were kept well by MI as the Dad’s Army just fell short by 1 run in defending the title.

Man of the Match, Jasprit Bumrah said:

Very happy. In the finals we know that it can get close and winning the title with MI is a special feeling. Today, surprisingly, I was very calm, I wasn’t panicking at all and very happy to contribute to the team’s success. I only take one ball and one day at a time and if you think like that you don’t feel pressure at all.

Purple Cap winner, Imran Tahir said:

I am really grateful to Chennai for giving me an opportunity at this age. I just want to keep going and would like to thank my support staff. It’s sad to lose, but credit to Mumbai and they deserve this victory. I am pleased to see all this at a late stage in my life.

It is the best league and I have been working hard for very long in my life, it isn’t easy to bowl to the Indian and the overseas players. I love the game and I would love to carry on for as long as I can.

Mumbai Indians skipper, Rohit Sharma said:

Throughout the tournament we played some good cricket which was the reason we qualified at the top. We planned to split the tournament into two parts, every thing we did as a team, we got the rewards for them. We have a squad of 25 players, everyone came in at some stage and did the job; the support-staff as well.

Our bowling in particular was excellent, at different stages in the game, the bowlers put their hands up and brought us back. Every bowler who got an opportunity put their hand up, took responsibility and that’s why we got the rewards for it.

Malinga is a champion, he has been doing it for many years for us. I was thinking of hardik for the final over, but I wanted to back someone who has been in that situation for us before, and Malinga has been there many times.

I am learning in every game, every time I take the field. I have to credit the team as well, it is up to the boys to step up otherwise the captain is made to look foolish. Credit to the boys!

Chennai Super Kings skipper, MS Dhoni said:

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 in IPLs it is very funny as to how both these teams are only passing on the trophies from one team to the other. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, they made one lesser mistake.

I think the bowlers did really well for us, even today it was definitely more than an 150 wicket. They kept performing and kept getting wickets whenever needed. Whenever they restricted the opposition to a low score, somebody stepped up with thet bat, chipped in and that’s how we’ve won most of our games.

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 yes.

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