Mumbai Indians Triumph in IPL Final 2019, Securing Historic Fourth Title
Mumbai Indians emerged victorious against Chennai Super Kings, clinching their record-breaking fourth title in a nail-biting encounter in an electrifying IPL 2019 final.
Lasith Malinga, Rahul Chahar, and Jasprit Bumrah steal the show as Rohit Sharma’s team narrowly defeats a moderate score by one run.
Chennai Super Kings 148 for 7 (Watson 80, Bumrah 214) were defeated by Mumbai Indians 149 for 8 (Pollard 41*, Chahar 3–26) by a single run.
Lasith Malinga turned around a terrible night in an amazing final over to earn the Mumbai Indians their fourth IPL championship in a highly tactical and wildly chaotic finale.
The game proceeded in a variety of ways—both batting teams may have underperformed, technology presented a problem for the third umpire, catches were dropped, run-outs were missed—until the Chennai Super Kings needed nine runs to win off the last over.
Malinga, who had previously only managed three overs for 42, a lost catch, mediocre fielding, and a missed run-out, finally showed up with creaking joints to give up just seven. When most bowlers would have been content to bowl a slower wide delivery to try to secure the tie first, he delivered the most amazing slower ball to win it for Mumbai with two needed off the final ball.
That night, experience was king and Shane Watson almost had a similar fairy-tale. Watson, who was trusted through what is generally seen to be a horrific run, took Super Kings to victory in the end with 80 off 59, twice destroying the excellent work that Mumbai had done with his targeted attack on Mumbai bowlers. However, in the final over, Watson’s physical troubles proved to be too much for him.
Malinga was hitting yorkers, and Watson had to make five off of three balls. He went for a reckless second, running himself out and leaving Ravindra Jadeja stranded at the non-striker’s end. Maybe Jadeja should have declined that second.
Mumbai came out determined to deny Super Kings the opportunity to bowl Deepak Chahar for three consecutive overs during the Powerplay after winning the toss and opting to bat due to the pressure of the final. In the third over, Quinton de Kock targeted Deepak and smacked him three sixes; in the fifth over, MS Dhoni had to resort to Shardul Thakur. During the fourth ball of the over, De Kock struck him for a six. Mumbai just needed to avoid losing a wicket in the next two deliveries to push Deepak and the Super Kings out of their comfort zone.
De Kock ignored this by-play and proceeded to score another six, giving the ball to Dhoni. This gave Deepak permission to return in the sixth over, and he did so brilliantly, taking Rohit Sharma for fifteen with a knuckleball. Additionally, he maimed that sixth over, which is typically the hardest in the Powerplay. Mumbai finished the Powerplay with 45 for 2, having started at 45 for 0 in 4.4.
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Even though he might not have, he completed the task precisely as requested by a data analyst. Typically, he bowls Imran Tahir and Harbhajan Singh through the middle and saves Dwayne Bravo for the very end.
Bravo’s lineup against Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya in this game was unsuitable for the Super Kings, therefore before the tenth over, Dhoni had already bowled two of his overs. Although Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan were obviously guilty of allowing Super Kings to play the game they wanted to, you might pardon de Kock for not knowing about the by-play. On a pitch that could not be described as slow, they plodded to 58 for 2 in nine overs after playing out three overs with little intent.
Tahir dismissed Suryakumar in his opening over, the 12th, as the strategic match proceeded, although Mumbai withheld the introduction of Hardik and Pollard. Krunal Pandya emerged, and Thakur reappeared to retrieve him. Before long, Tahir had Kishan for the sixth time in their five innings of play. Now it was just Pollard and Hardik facing the death bowlers of the Super Kings.
Dhoni had Mumbai on its toes with his techniques. He purposefully selected six bowlers so that he would have options in case things became wild. He now declined to offer Pollard and Hardik Bravo. Rather, Thakur and Deepak bowled. Deepak brought things back with a four-run 19th over that also gave him two wickets, despite Thakur going for 16 in the 18th over. He finished with 26 runs in his four overs, despite a 20-run over.
With Hardik out of the way, Dhoni turned to Bravo, who with a few liberal wide calls and pinpoint field settings were able to get under Pollard’s skin. However, Pollard was able to overcome his displeasure by smashing the final two balls for four runs.
Mumbai was under pressure even though they had bowling alternatives as well. Faf du Plessis targeted Krunal because Mumbai would benefit from his matchup with Watson. In retaliation, Watson dismantled Malinga. However, Krunal stumped du Plessis with a wide delivery. Super Kings remained the favorites at the end of the Powerplay, though, with a 53 for 1.
The Super Kings’ second-biggest draw of all time, Suresh Raina, was then unable to survive Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rahul Chahar’s bowling. The short ball bowled to a predetermined plan looked to be beyond his control. Though technology proved otherwise, he survived what appeared to be a simple catch to the wicketkeeper, but by the time he was leg before wicket to Rahul, Mumbai had regained ground on the Super Kings.
Without delay, Rohit walked to Bumrah and requested a wicket, which was granted. Dhoni attempted to take an overthrow and was caught short by the narrowest of margins, setting up a strange way to be removed from the game. Nigel Llong, the third umpire, had the option to make either decision, and his decision to press the red button drew both praise and criticism. Super Kings required 44 out of 68 currently.
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It was all up to Watson, with Bravo fighting the bounce on the pitch. Bumrah and Malinga gave Rohit two overs apiece at the beginning of the sixteenth over. Although it appeared to be an easy choice to bowl them from 16 to 19, Malinga had been unsatisfactory the entire evening. Watson struck him for three straight fours in the 16th over, bringing the total down to 42 off four overs, demonstrating it. Bumrah responded with an incredible 17th that went for just four to bring it back.
Malinga was having physical difficulties. We needed to give him a break. Now, it was between the Pandya siblings. Presumably because he had superior numbers against Watson, Rohit chose to go for the spinner. But as soon as the batsman is set, these matchups are over. Watson demonstrated that magnificently by hitting three sixes in a row. Mumbai was kept alive by Bumrah, who once more pulled them back despite a misfield that gave them four byes from the final ball of the 19th over.
This final over was going to be bowled by none other than Malinga. His background has to be trusted. The first ball was a yorker that Watson hammered from around the wicket. Eight off of five now. The second ball, a low full toss, gives up a single and ought to have been run out. Seven off of 4. Third ball: another yorker that was hammered wide of long-on for an easy two, this time from around the wicket. Five off of three now. Fourth ball: wide yorker, Watson takes a chance, but de Kock recovers well, flicking the ball back onto the stumps. Four off of two now.
Malinga maintains his round-the-wicket approach to the new batsman, but Thakur gets enough bat on the low full delivery to score two. After two balls off the final ball, lengthy conversations ensue. One glove comes off for De Kock. A lot of plans seem to be created and then abandoned. At last, the field looks like it should be set up for a slower ball outside off, but Malinga comes through with a deceptive dipping slower ball that catches Thakur squarely in front. He was carried on Pollard’s shoulders.
