IPL 2017 winning team story: Mumbai Indians’ Road to Winning the title
Apr 5, 2018 at 8:50 PM
The champions of the last edition of the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians started their journey with six consecutive wins post their first match loss. They also became the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
Victory in their final league match made them the first T20 team to 100 wins and confirmed them as the table-toppers with 20 points.
The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai have been the outstanding team this IPL, with ten wins from 14 matches on their way to the final.
In the final, they beat Rising Pune Supergiants in a nail-biter to seal their third IPL title.
Further, let us look at Mumbai Indians journey in the last edition:
vs RPS in Pune – Lost by seven wickets
A narrow defeat which came down to the penultimate ball of the game. No fifties, but a late-order flourish from Kieron Pollard (27 off 17 balls) and Hardik Pandya (35* off 15) got Mumbai to 184. Hardik struck Ashok Dinda for 30 runs in the last over, striking four sixes and a four. However, Rising Pune Supergiant squeezed home by skipper Steven Smith’s unbeaten 84 off 54 balls.
vs KKR in Mumbai – Won by four wickets
This game also went down to the penultimate delivery, however, this time Mumbai finished on a winning note. Chasing 179 after good bowling from Krunal Pandya (3/24), Mumbai banked on Nitish Rana’s 50 off 29 balls to keep the chase running. Hardik was the finisher again with an unbeaten 29 off 11 balls to seal a tense win.
vs SRH in Mumbai – Won by four wickets
Another successful chase, with plenty of nerves. Harbhajan Singh (2/23) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/24) starred as the defending champions were limited to 158/8, after which Parthiv Patel (39 of 24) and Rana (45 off 36) whittled away at the target. Mumbai, after a wobble, were indebted to Krunal’s 20-ball 37 to take them to the doorstep of victory.
vs RCB in Bangalore – Won by four wickets
By now it was evident that Mumbai’s middle order was going to be a common theme. Chasing 143, Samuel Badree (4/9) hattrick in the Powerplay rattled Mumbai, but from a perilous scoreline of 7/4, Pollard’s 70 off 47 balls and a sensible 37* from Krunal bailed out Mumbai.
vs GL in Mumbai – Won by six wickets
Back home at the Wankhede, Rana (53) and Pollard (39) guided Mumbai to victory. Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma (40) produced his first significant innings, as Mumbai chased the target of 177 in 19.3 overs.
vs KXIP in Indore – Won by eight wickets
Pushed onto the backfoot by Hashim Amla’s unbeaten 104, Mumbai were set a target of 199. Mumbai openers added 81 in 5.5 overs, with England’s Jos Buttler crackling 37-ball 77. Finishing the job was Rana, with an astonishing 62 off 34 balls. Further, this was the highest successful chase of the season and gave Mumbai their best start to any IPL.
vs DD in Mumbai – Won by 14 runs
An under-par total (142) was made to look far more menacing with New Zealand left-arm quick Mitchell McClenaghan stinging Delhi Daredevils with 3/24 and backed by Burmah’s 2/21; the table-toppers extended their lead over KKR and SRH. Daredevils were left hurting at 24/6 and made a fist of it through Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris, but Bumrah’s guile at the death snuffed out their chase.
vs RPS in Mumbai – Lost by three runs
Another loss to their Maharashtra rivals, this one also by a very narrow margin. Chasing 161, Mumbai never found strong partnerships. They finished at 157 with Ben Stokes bowling superbly. However, this broked Mumbai’s winning run and the match referee fined Rohit for showing dissent.
vs GL in Rajkot – Match tied (won the one-over eliminator)
A nerve-shredding match ended with Mumbai somehow levelling the scores on 153, which set up a Super Over. Starring in the tiebreaker was Bumrah, who defended 11 runs to give his team the joint lead at No one on the points table.
vs RCB in Mumbai – Won by five wickets
This win owed plenty to Rohit, who walked in at 61/2 and finished a chase of 163 with 56 not out off 37 balls. Hardik provided good support to take Mumbai back at the top.
vs DD in Delhi – Won by 146 runs
A victory by a record margin sealed Mumbai’s passage to the playoffs. A total of 212/3 owed to Lendl Simmons’ 43-ball 66 and unbeaten 63 from Pollard. Hardik chipped in with another cameo of 29 not out from 14 balls. However, in reply, Daredevils were steamrolled for a lowly 66 in 13.4 overs.
v SRH in Hyderabad – Lost by seven wickets
A total of 138/7 on a slow surface was not enough to stop SRH from cantering home. Rohit’s 67 aside, no batsman crossed 23, and that told the story. After a rare failure from David Warner, it was Shikhar Dhawan (62*) and Moises Henriques (44) who steered SRH home.
v KXIP in Mumbai – Lost by seven runs
An odd sort of defeat, for Mumbai, looked on course to chase 231 at several junctures. Led by Wriddhiman Saha’s unbeaten 93 and a crackling 47 from Glenn Maxwell, KXIP soared to 230/3. Simmons’ 59 and Parthiv’s speedy 38 laid a start of 99 in 8.4 overs before the slide started. Mumbai ended on 223/6 with Pollard not out on 50 from 24 balls.
v KKR in Kolkata – Won by nine runs
In their last league match, Mumbai made six changes. The result was a nine-run win over KKR at Eden Gardens, which meant that they missed out on a top-two finish. Starring were Ambati Rayudu with 63 runs and Saurabh Tiwary with 52 in his first appearance. Mumbai defended 173 to confirm their place at No 1 and headed into the playoffs. This was their 100th win, the first T20 team to the milestone.
Qualifier 1 v RPS in Mumbai – Lost by 20 runs
Having been asked to bat, RPS were carried by Rahane’s 56 off 43 balls after the innings lurched to 9/2 inside two overs, but it was the alliance between Tiwary (58 off 48) and Dhoni (40* off 26) that hurt Mumbai. Then it was over to Washington Sundar, who produced his best performance of the season in reducing Mumbai’s strong batting order to 51/4. After Parthiv’s dismissal in the 13th over, it became tough for MI. Mumbai lost to Pune for the third time.
Qualifier 2 v KKR in Bangalore – Won by six wickets
On a tricky track, Rohit correctly called at the coin toss and expectedly put KKR in to bat. By the end of seven overs, KKR had slipped to 31/5. Suryakumar Yadav (31) and Ishank Jaggi (28) added 56 runs that helped them past 100 runs. Led by Karn and Bumrah, who shared seven wickets, Mumbai bowled out KKR for a paltry 107. However, Mumbai Krunal (45*) and Rohit (26) ensured that was just a hiccup before they sealed the deal in 14.3 overs to enter the final.
Final vs RPS in Hyderabad- Won by one run
Mumbai banked on Mitchell Johnson’s last over heroics to win the title for the third time. Batting first Mumbai added 129 with the help of Krunal Pandya’s 47. However, despite Smith’s valiant effort, Pune failed to cross the line. Bumrah was impeccable at the death bowling cheap overs which sealed the victory.