KOLKATA — Kieron Pollard (60 not out off 42 balls) shone with the bat to take Mumbai Indians to 148 for nine, before their bowlers produced an inspiring bowling effort to inflict a 23-run defeat on two-time champions Chennai Super Kings to clinch their first ever Indian Premier League (IPL) title here Sunday. Mumbai, which had been reduced to 16 for three after electing to bat first, gave Chennai a dose of its own medicine early in the second innings as it took three quick wickets for as many runs. Mumbai plucked the rabbit out of the hat and flung it at the Chennai openers as Lasith Malinga was given the new ball. Malinga picked two in two to send two of the top-five run-scorers this season — Michael Hussey (1) and Suresh Raina (0) — packing without troubling the scorers much. Subramaniam Badrinath too could do nothing to plug the leak as he was pierced by Mitchell Johnson's in-swinger and edged to Dinesh Karthik for a duck. Earlier, Dwayne Bravo took four wickets as the Chennai Super Kings restricted the Mumbai Indians to 148-9. Bravo (4-42) thus became the first bowler to take more than 30 wickets in a single season of IPL, ending this season with 31 victims. The previous best tally was 28 by Lasith Malinga in the 2011 edition. Kieron Pollard (60 not out off 32 balls) saved Mumbai the blushes with a typical slam-bang innings, including seven fours and three sixes, after coming in at No. 6 and gave his team a fighting total. Pollard could have scored more, had he got to face more than the 13 deliveries that he did in the last five overs. The Super Kings rocked Mumbai after being asked to bowl first by Rohit Sharma. Dwayne Smith (4) started well, but fell lbw to Mohit Sharma. Albie Morkel (2-12) came in from the other end and cleaned up Aditya Tare (0) first ball and captain Sharma gave a simple return catch to Morkel in his next over to make it 16 for three. Ambati Rayudu combined well with Dinesh Karthik (21) who dragged Chris Morris's delivery onto his stumps. Rayudu and Kieron Pollard then continued the recovery. After Rayudu's exit for 37 Pollard redeemed Mumbai to a decent total. Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 148-9 (K. Pollard 60 not out, A. Rayudu 37; A. Morkel 2-12, D. Bravo 4-42) beat Chennai Super Kings 125-9 (M. Vijay 18, MS Dhoni 63 not out, L. Malinga 2-22, M. Johnson 2-19, Harbhajan 2-14) by 23 runs. Meiyappan suspended, role to be probed by BCCI India's cricket chief N. Srinivasan says a committee will look into allegations against his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan after his arrest during investigations for spot-fixing by Indian police. Srinivasan said at a press conference that Meiyappan has been “provisionally suspended” from cricket and all involvement from the Chennai franchise and that the commission will look into any “breach of operational rules.” Meiyappan was reportedly in touch with actor Vindoo Randhawa who is alleged to be involved in the scandal. — Agencies
