#ThisDayThatYear: A maiden IPL title for Mumbai Indians
On this day in 2013, Mumbai Indians won their first ever Indian Premier League title. The Rohit Sharma-led side defeated Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs in the final. Rohit was hailed widely for leading from the front in IPL 2013 after taking over from Ricky Ponting. Besides, Kieron Pollard's masterclass turned the final in Mumbai's favor. Here is how the match panned out.
Batting first, Mumbai Indians were reduced to 16/3 in the space of four overs. Ambati Rayudu added 48 runs with Kieron Pollard, thereby propelling Mumbai to over 100. The lower middle order also failed to deliver as MI finished on 148/9 at the end of 20 overs. Pollard stood out with an unbeaten 32-ball 60. For CSK, Dwayne Bravo scalped four wickets.
Chasing a nominal total, CSK lost both Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina in the very first over. The likes of Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson uprooted CSK's top order with ease. CSK were tottering on 36/5 with skipper MS Dhoni trying to hold one end. Although Dhoni's 65 off 45 kept the scoreboard ticking, none of the other batsmen complemented him.
Kieron Pollard, who was also named the Player of the Match, turned out to be the differential for Mumbai Indians. His 60 off 32 balls was laced with 7 fours and 3 sixes. The Caribbean all-rounder helped MI put up 19 runs in the last two overs. Notably, he struck two consecutive sixes on the last two deliveries of MI's innings.
Interestingly, Mumbai Indians laid hands on the silverware after six previous attempts (since 2008). Later in the decade, they bagged three more titles (2015, 2017 and 2019), having become IPL's most successful side. Presently, MI own most number of IPL victories (107).
