MS Dhoni rued a few costly mistakes after Chennai Super Kings failed to defend their IPL title and Mumbai Indians won a last-ball thriller to become the first team to win the Indian Premier League 4 times. Shane Watson’s 80 in the IPL 2019 final went in vain after Lasith Malinga bowled a sensational final over in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Chennai Super Kings were the table toppers for most of the season before they finished 2nd at the end of the league stage. CSK lost the first qualifier to MI before defeating Delhi Capitals in the Eliminator to make it to their 8th final in 10 IPL seasons.
On Sunday, the Super Kings bowlers did brilliantly to restrict a power-packed Mumbai Indians batting line-up to 149 off their 20 overs. Shane Watson then led the charge for CSK but he did not get enough support from the others.
MS Dhoni said it was a funny kind of a final with both teams seemingly passing the IPL trophy to each other.
Mumbai Indians lost their way after a quick start before Kieron Pollard hauled them to a decent total.
Chennai Super Kings then got off to a rapid start before they lost Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni in succession. Shane Watson played a heroic knock but his run-out in a tense final over meant MI had the upper hand.
MS Dhoni spoke to the host broadcaster in the post-match presentation ceremony and said MI won because they made one mistake less.
“It was quite a funny game, we were passing the trophy to each other. Both committed mistakes, and eventually the winning team was the one that committed one mistake less,” Dhoni said.
“Our bowlers did really well. It was not a 150 wicket, but the bowlers kept us in the hunt. They kept getting wickets when it was really needed. Batting, someone kept chipping in and we kept winning,” he said.
MS Dhoni said the focus would now be on the World Cup before he shifts his attention to what went wrong for CSK in the final. This season, the Super Kings depended heavily on MS Dhoni with the bat before Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson found form in the later phase of thr tournament.
CSK were also affected with the poor form of Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav with the bat.
MS Dhoni said CSK did not play very good cricket in the 2019 IPL but it was still a good season for his team.
“As a team we had a good season. But we need to go back and reflect. Wasn’t one of those years where we played very good cricket. Middle order never clicked, but somehow we managed,” he said.
