#ThisDayThatYear: A fourth IPL title for Mumbai Indians
On this day in 2019, Mumbai Indians clinched yet another Indian Premier League (IPL) title by defeating arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in the final. Lasith Malinga's magic over drove them to victory in a last-ball thriller. Having won the trophy four times, MI became the most successful franchise in the history of IPL. Here is how Mumbai Indians were crowned champions.
Batting first, Quinton de Kock and skipper Rohit Sharma got off Mumbai to a flier before the duo was dismissed in consecutive overs. Although Ishan Kishan (23) bolstered the innings, the rest did not complement him. Nonetheless, Kieron Pollard's unbeaten 41 off 25 deliveries propelled MI to 149/8 at the end of 20 overs. Deepak Chahar claimed three crucial scalps for CSK.
In spite of losing Faf du Plessis early on, CSK were steering towards victory with Shane Watson's spell-binding knock. However, Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul Chahar cleaned up the top order, having brought back MI in the hunt. The controversial run-out of Mahendra Singh Dhoni was deemed the turning point. Bumrah delivered a terrific penultimate over, leaving nine runs for the final one.
Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga spilled all his experience to defend nine runs in the final over. Watson and Jadeja looked set to steal the game away, but the former got run-out on the fourth ball. Chennai required two off the final delivery as Shardul Thakur took the strike. A perfect slower off-cutter by Malinga trapped Shardul lbw, which sealed a one-run victory.
Mumbai Indians became the most successful side in IPL history by grabbing a fourth title (2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019). Interestingly, all the four finals between MI and CSK have been won by the team batting first - CSK (2010), MI (2013, 2015 and 2019).
