Mumbai Indians clinched their second Champions League T20 title in 2013 by beating their fellow Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals in the final. The high-scoring summit clash took place at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium (then Feroz Shah Kotla) 11 years back on this day (October 6).
MI entered the competition after winning their maiden IPL trophy. The Rohit Sharma-led side emerged victorious in two of their four league matches in the 2013 edition of CLT20.
MI finished second in Group A, following RR, who won all of their four matches. The Rajasthan-based franchise faced CSK in the semi-final and registered a 14-run victory to reach the final. MI, on the other hand, booked their berth by defeating Trinidad and Tobago by six wickets. RR captain Rahul Dravid won the toss in the final and asked MI to bat first in Delhi.
MI made a composed start but lost the important wicket of Sachin Tendulkar early in the powerplay. The other opener, Dwayne Smith, survived 39 balls and scored 44 with five fours and one six. Rohit Sharma spent a brief period at the crease and struck a blazing 33 off 14 balls. His knock was laced with three fours and two maximums.
Glenn Maxwell also put up a thunderous show down the order. He slammed four boundaries and two sixes to register 37 runs at a 260-plus strike rate. Dinesh Karthik also made a crucial contribution as he added 15 runs to the scoresheet, facing five deliveries. MI succeeded in setting a mammoth target of 203, losing six wickets in 20 overs.
RR opener Kushal Perera returned to the dressing room early in the chase. Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson stitched a 109-run partnership to revive the innings. Both batters struck commendable half-centuries. Rahane scored 65 off 47 balls while Samson chipped in with a 60-run knock.
Following the dismissals of Rahane and Samson, no batter from RR was able to breach the 10-run mark.
Harbhajan Singh was mostly responsible for RR’s collapse. The MI spinner picked up four wickets conceding 32 runs in his four overs. Kieron Pollard was also impressive with the ball and picked up three wickets.
Thanks to their commendable bowling, RR were bundled out for 169. Dwayne Smith was named the Player of the Match for his match-defining knock of the penultimate edition of the CLT20. The tournament was discontinued after 2014 due to a lack of viewership and financial sustainability.
Comments
0 comment