IPL History: 5 greatest matches between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. Two teams with contrasting attributes and yet they are the two most successful franchises in IPL history.
One has always boasted of star-studded names in their squad as well the support staff. The other has not necessarily relied on big names every time, but arguably have the greatest finisher and captain of the modern generation at their disposal.
Many see a CSK vs MI match-up as the El Clásico of the IPL and it is called so for a reason. They have been at the forefront of some of the finest, jaw-dropping matches that the tournament has witnessed over the years.
Here is a walk down the memory lane to revisit 5 matches among them that stand out from the rest and prove why there has been no bigger rivalry in the IPL:
#5 The Pollard way: Chennai, 2013
Everyone remembers 2013 as the season when Mumbai won their first IPL trophy, giving Sachin Tendulkar the perfect farewell. They did beat Chennai in the final, however, before that, the two teams met in the nascent stages of the tournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Batting first, Mumbai were reeling at 83 for 6 after 12 overs when Kieron Pollard took centre stage and scripted a fine comeback along with Harbhajan Singh.
Pollard displayed great maturity and composure along with his usual brutal-self in scoring a 38-ball 57 to take MI to a fighting 148/6 in 20 overs. Chennai were expected to win this one rather comfortably, however, they made a mess out of it and were 66 for 5 in the 13th over.
But they still had MS Dhoni, who was at the peak of his powers and kept on waging a lone battle, bringing the equation down to 40 off 18.
Kieron Pollard disappeared for 17 in the 18th over, and Mitchell Johnson gave away 12 runs in the penultimate over. The match was suddenly tilting towards CSK with 11 needed off the final over and MSD still out in the middle.
Munaf Patel was out to bowl the final over and on the very first delivery, Dhoni played his trademark flick shot off a length ball. The ball seemed to sail over the mid-wicket boundary until Pollard again got into the act, grabbing a stunning catch at the edge of the boundary rope, to shock the home crowd and give Mumbai a 9-run victory.