CHENNAI Super Kings completed a sweep of their three-match home leg after the Mumbai Indians’ batting fell apart in a rash of poor strokes following Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement due to dehydration.
(Scores: Chennai Super Kings 165 for 4 (Hayden 35, Pollard 2-27) beat Mumbai Indians 141 for 9 (Tendulkar 45) by 24 run).s
On a track where 467 runs were plundered three days ago, boundaries were hard to come by and, despite being hampered by dew, Chennai easily defended their moderate total.
Tendulkar was on his haunches and breathing heavily as early as the fourth over of the chase. However, he and Shikhar Dhawan provided their customary solid start, hitting a four an over in the Powerplay to take Mumbai to 46 for 0.
Dhawan chopped on Thilan Thushara’s first delivery, but Mumbai progressed smoothly, if slowly, to 62 after nine overs when Tendulkar decided to retire.
After looking in control of the match till then, Mumbai imploded, losing a wicket in each of the next six overs. Ambati Rayudu charged and missed a short ball from Suresh Raina, the Trinidad pair of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard holed out to well-judged catches down the ground, and Saurabh Tiwary slogged straight to deep midwicket.
R. Sathish and Ryan McLaren were involved in some nervy running before Sathish was caught out by a direct hit.
The only wicket the bowler can take credit for in the entire collapse was McLaren’s – off-spinner R. Ashwin trapping him lbw in front of off stump. Mumbai had lurched to 92 for 7 and even the return of Tendulkar couldn’t extend their winning run.

Their bowlers had done a better job earlier in the evening, shackling a powerful Chennai batting line-up. Opener M. Vijay had thrilled the Chennai crowds with his leg-side hitting in two brutal innings over the past week, but only struck a couple of off-side fours today before bottom-edging Harbhajan onto the stumps.
Matthew Hayden is supposed to be the bruiser at the top of the Chennai line-up, but yet again he couldn’t find the boundaries, dealing mainly in singles. He was starved of the strike in the first half of the innings, and even MS Dhoni, who came in at the end of the ninth over, nearly caught up with him.
After the lethargy in the Powerplays, Suresh Raina was just starting to catalyse the innings, a trademark bludgeon over wide long-on taking him to 23 off 16 deliveries.
However, he looked to repeat the shot off Dwayne Bravo to a shorter one two balls later and could only find deep midwicket.
Chennai were kept on their toes when Dhoni made a typical bustling start, feasting on the leg-side offerings from a nervous debutant Abu Nechim, to gallop to 12 off 4. The runs continued to rain on the on-side in the next over, when Hayden flicked and drove Bravo for ten runs.
When Dhoni edged one past the keeper for four in the 12th over, 63 runs had come off the previous six, prompting Tendulkar to bring back his enforcer, Lasith Malinga, who chopped off the runs with a series of near-yorkers. It was in the next over, from Kieron Pollard, that the match swung.
His slow bouncer tricked Dhoni, and Hayden’s mongoose bat wasn’t enough to clear long-on off the next delivery.
The home side slid to 119 for 4, after which boundaries again proved scarce, none coming in the next four overs. Michael Hussey and S. Badrinath picked off the singles but struggled to hit top gear, and it wasn’t till the penultimate over that paddles from Badrinath gave them a couple of fours.
A reverse-paddle and a back-of-the-bat mis-hit to fine leg followed, lifting Chennai to 165, which ultimately proved enough for their third straight win. (Cricinfo)