Mumbai Indians pull off 1 run victory; crowned IPL Champions

With just 129 on the board Pune going strong at 71 for 1, no one would have put their money on the Mumbai Indians. But the Rohit Sharma led Mumbai franchise is known to pull off these unexpected wins.

Sub-par score from MI

Rohit won the toss and opted to bat first. Thanks to Jaydev Unadkat’s twin strikes in the start, and some a couple of run outs, the Mumbai Indians were reeling at 79 for 7 in the 15th over. Krunal Pandya hung in there till the end and scored a match winning 38 ball 47. 

Rohit Sharma played a quiet 22 ball 24 but it was Krunal’s hard fought innings that gave Mumbai a 120+ score to bowl at. The Pune bowlers didn’t leave much to cheer for with Dan Christian and Adam Zampa picking up a couple of wickets each too.

Smith and Rahane get RPS close

After losing their young find of the season Rahul Tripathi early, RPS were cruising with Rahane and Smith’s steady batting. Even after Rahane’s(44 off 38) dismissal Smith(50 ball 51) and Dhoni seemed to have things under control. Ajinkya had set up the game and got his side in a comfortable position.

Bumrah’s death over magic

With Dhoni and Smith still at the crease and 33 needed off 24, RPS were still in the driver’s seat. But Jasprit Bumrah fired in those yorkers and choked RPS. He bowled a 3 run 17th over, gave away 11 in the 19th and left another 11 to be scored off the last over. The retired Aussie spearhead Mitchell Johnson had to bowl the last over which Manoj Tiwary started off with a boundary. What followed were two back to back wickets of Tiwary and Smith that put the Mumbai Indians right back in the game.

3 balls 7 - just leg-bye conceded, thanks to a well-directed yorker

2 balls 6 - Dan Christian manages 2 runs

1 ball 4 - Christian squeezes in 2 runs and Sundar can’t complete the 3rd run

What has worked beautifully for the Mumbai side this year is the ability of every player to step-up from time to time. Be it Parthiv Patel’s breezy starts in chases, Pollard’s sensible knocks, Bumrah’s yorkers or Nitish Rana’s flair at the start of the tournament, Mumbai have capitalized on team performances and taken home their third IPL trophy.

Jos Buttler pops a champagne for his team

— Jos Buttler (@josbuttler) May 21, 2017

Man of the Match - Krunal Pandya

Most Valuable Player - Ben Stokes

Orange Cap - David Warner

Purple Cap - Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

Emerging Player - Basil Thampi

The cricketing focus now shifts to England where the Top 8 international teams of the world will play the Champions Trophy. India will be counting on their strong team, with key players finding form towards the end of the IPL. India plays its first game against Pakistan on the 4th of June.