IPL Results 2015: Scores, Updated Schedule After Chennai vs. Mumbai Qualifier 1
Mumbai Indians (187/6) became the first team to qualify for the Indian Premier League final by beating Chennai Super Kings (162/10) in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday, winning by 25 runs.
The 2013 champions dominated with the bat and easily shut down Chennai's batsmen when it was their turn to bowl, led by the brilliant duo of Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh.
Mumbai had a fantastic start to their innings, building on the late-season form which saw the team surge to second place in the IPL standings.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| Lendl Simmons | c Pawan Negi b Ravindra Jadeja | 65 | 51 | 127.45 | 3 | 5 | |
| Parthiv Patel | c Ravindra Jadeja b Dwayne Bravo | 35 | 25 | 140.00 | 4 | 1 | |
| Rohit Sharma | c Ravindra Jadeja b Dwayne Bravo | 19 | 14 | 135.71 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kieron Pollard | c Suresh Raina b Dwayne Bravo | 41 | 17 | 241.17 | 1 | 5 | |
| Hardik Pandya | c Ravindra Jadeja b Ashish Nehra | 1 | 2 | 50.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ambati Rayudu | c Suresh Raina b Mohit Sharma | 10 | 8 | 125.00 | 1 | 0 | |
| Harbhajan Singh | NOT OUT | 6 | 3 | 200.00 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jagadeesha Suchith | NOT OUT | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| EXTRAS | (nb 1, w 8) | 9 | |||||
| TOTAL | (6 wickets; 20 overs) | 187 | |||||
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 3 | 22 | 0 | 7.33 | 9 | |
| Ashish Nehra | 4 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | 15 | |
| Pawan Negi | 4 | 46 | 0 | 11.50 | 3 | |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 2 | 18 | 1 | 9.00 | 5 | |
| Mohit Sharma | 3 | 33 | 1 | 11.00 | 5 | |
| Dwayne Bravo | 4 | 40 | 3 | 10.00 | 5 | |
Lendl Simmons (65 from 51) and Parthiv Patel (35 from 25) gave the Indians the kind of opening partnership they needed, as the runs poured in at a high rate early on. The two put together an explosive stand which had ESPN Cricinfo's Freddie Wilde purring:
Chennai's vaunted bowling attack struggled early in the Indians' innings, but Dwayne Bravo managed to remove Patel and Rohit Sharma to give the Super Kings a chance. More was expected from Sharma, in particular, as he managed just 19 from 14 before he was caught by Ravindra Jadeja.
The bowlers took control during the latter overs, and Kieron Pollard was the only Indians' batsman capable of consistently putting runs on the board. The West Indies star was caught in the final over but not before contributing 41 runs from 17 deliveries.
Wilde noted this was exactly the kind of performance he expected from Mumbai, and the team should be somewhat thankful for their early-season struggles:
Chasing down Mumbai's total of 187 looked like a daunting task, but things could have been so much easier had Chennai limited the damage of Kieron Pollard late in the innings. Instead, it was up to the Super Kings' batsmen to match their colleagues from Mumbai.
Chennai's chase started in disastrous fashion. Dwayne Smith was dismissed for a duck, while partner Michael Hussey managed just 16 runs before he was caught by Patel. Malinga and Singh worked their magic early, per Wilde:
Super Kings started taking more risks with the bat, allowing Mumbai's bowlers to shine. MS Dhoni was dismissed by the first ball he faced, and while Suresh Raina's 25 from 20 was helpful to his team's cause, Chennai simply needed more.
| Dwayne Smith | lbw Lasith Malinga | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Michael Hussey | c Parthiv Patel b Vinay Kumar | 16 | 11 | 145.45 | 1 | 1 | |
| Francois du Plessis | c Vinay Kumar b Jagadeesha Suchith | 45 | 34 | 132.35 | 5 | 1 | |
| Suresh Raina | c & b Harbhajan Singh | 25 | 20 | 125.00 | 0 | 2 | |
| MS Dhoni | lbw Harbhajan Singh | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dwayne Bravo | run out (Parthiv Patel) | 20 | 15 | 133.33 | 2 | 1 | |
| Ravindra Jadeja | c Jagadeesha Suchith b Mitchell McClenaghan | 19 | 10 | 190.00 | 1 | 1 | |
| Pawan Negi | c sub (Unmukt Chand) b Vinay Kumar | 3 | 3 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | c Ambati Rayudu b Lasith Malinga | 23 | 12 | 191.66 | 2 | 1 | |
| Mohit Sharma | NOT OUT | 3 | 3 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ashish Nehra | c Lendl Simmons b Lasith Malinga | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| EXTRAS | (w 7, lb 1) | 8 | |||||
| TOTAL | (All out; 19 overs) | 162 | |||||
| Lasith Malinga | 4 | 23 | 3 | 5.75 | 8 | |
| Mitchell McClenaghan | 3 | 46 | 1 | 15.33 | 5 | |
| Vinay Kumar | 3 | 26 | 2 | 8.66 | 6 | |
| Harbhajan Singh | 4 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | 8 | |
| Kieron Pollard | 3 | 22 | 0 | 7.33 | 2 | |
| Jagadeesha Suchith | 2 | 18 | 1 | 9.00 | 5 | |
Entering the final overs, it became clear there would be no miraculous come-from-behind win. Mumbai easily defended their total and booked their spot in the IPL final.
Dhoni told ESPN Cricinfo he believed his team's batting left them down and looked ahead at Qualifier 2, the match which will give his side another shot at the final:
"We were soft on our batting. It's always difficult to chase 180+, we lost momentum in the middle, and not to forget Smith got a horrible decision. We need to lift our game but i was quite happy with our bowling. 180 was close to par on this pitch here but we needed to bat well. We were in a good position after the 10th over. We have always done well with our back to the wall, so that's what we can go to Ranchi with. We haven't played too much there, there will be a mixed support but they would want me to do well.
"
Here's the schedule for the remaining IPL play-off matches:
| May 20 | 3:30 p.m. | Eliminator - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals |
| May 22 | 3:30 p.m. | Qualifier 2 - TBC v Chennai Super Kings |
| May 24 | 3:30 p.m. | Final - TBC v Mumbai Indians |
Chennai will play the winner of Wednesday's eliminator between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals. While they obviously will have wished for more from their bowlers on Tuesday, the team's IPL adventure isn't over yet.
Mumbai's next match will be the IPL final.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
