Mumbai Indians qualified for the final of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 after a 6-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in Chepauk on Tuesday. Suryakumar Yadav starred with a brilliant unbeaten 71 and Rahul Chahar was magnificent with the ball, finishing with figures of 2 for 14.

Chasing 132 to win, MI lost skipper Rohit Sharma in the first over after he was trapped in front of the stumps. Suryakumar Yadav walked into bat at three and didn’t take much time to get off the mark with a well-executed shot for a boundary down to third-man.

Quniton de Kock perished three overs later while trying to take on Harbhajan Singh. The South African wicket-keeper couldn’t quite get a hold of Harbhajan’s delivery and ended up getting caught at wide long off by fellow countryman Faf du Plessis. Suryakumar and new batsman Ishan Kishan though, continued to attack CSK’s bowlers as the hosts looked to keep things tight with their slow bowling options.

Suryakumar especially took on CSK’s biggest spin threat Imran Tahir and smashed him for successive fours in the 11th over to assert dominance and put MI in a position of strength. It looked like Suryakumar and Kishan were going to chase down the target easily at one stage after putting on 80 together. Suryakumar, in particular, seemed to grow in confidence once he reached his fifty.

However, Tahir dismissed Kishan and Krunal Pandya in consecutive deliveries in the 14th over to give Chennai some hope. That hope dissipated pretty soon though after Hardik Pandya joined Suryakumar in the middle and the pair went about their business in a cool and composed manner. Fittingly, Suryakumar hit the winning runs with nine balls and six wickets to spare as MI became the first team to qualify for this season’s final in Hyderabad.

Earlier in the evening, CSK’s batsmen struggled to cope at the start of their innings as our spinners bamboozled them with smart variations. Rahul Chahar got rid of du Plessis in the third over and Jayant Yadav took Suresh Raina’s wicket in the next over. The final over of the powerplay saw Krunal get the better of Shane Watson to leave CSK reeling at 32 for 3.

Murali Vijay and Ambati Rayudu stitched a 33-run partnership together to steady the ship slightly for CSK. However, Vijay ended up getting stumped in the 13th over after Chahar had excellently deceived him in flight.

Chennai skipper MS Dhoni then joined Rayudu in the middle and the duo did well to put on a 66-run partnership off 48 balls. Rayudu managed to score 42 from 37 balls, while Dhoni – who was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah in the last over but unfortunately off a no-ball – made 37 from 29 balls to get CSK to 131.

Brief score: Chennai Super Kings 131 for 4 in 20 overs (Rayudu 42*; Chahar 2/14) lost to Mumbai Indians 132 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Suryakumar 71*; Tahir 2/33) by 6 wickets

Man of the Match: Suryakumar Yadav

Our next match will see us take on the winners of Qualifier 2 in the grand finale of IPL 2019 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.