Hussey, Raina propel Super Kings into final

IANS/New Delhi

Hussey struck an unbeaten 86 off 58 balls, with the help of 10 boundaries and two sixes, and Raina, who remained not out on 82 off 42 balls — hitting five fours and five sixes — set up the win with their 140-run unfinished stand for the second wicket that took Chennai Super Kings to a mammoth 192 for one in 20 overs.

While chasing it looked like Mumbai Indians, sans Sachin Tendulkar who is out with a palm injury, would pull off a stunning win as Dawyne Smith gave them a flying start with a 28-ball 68, but then they suffered a middle-order collapse and their innings folded up for 144 with eight balls to spare as Super Kings reached their fourth consecutive IPL final.

Mumbai Indians will now face the winner of the eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier, to be played today at the same venue.

It was a clinical performance by the Chennai bowlers and the pick of the lot was pacer Dwayne Bravo, who picked up three for nine. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja got three for 31. Fast bowler Mohit Sharma also got two for 32 while South African pace duo Albie Morkel and Chris Morris got a wicket apiece.

Mumbai Indians lost opening batsman Aditya Tare (7) early in the second over with Murali Vijay taking a straight forward catch at mid-on off Morkel. Next followed a stormy innings from Smith, who tore apart the Super Kings attack with his whirlwind 28-ball knock that was studded with six fours and five sixes.

Smith broke free with two consecutive sixes off pacer Mohit Sharma and followed it up by spanking Albie Morkel for three fours in the next over as 56 runs came up in six overs.

Smith came down hard on Chris Morris, hitting him for two sixes in the seventh over and the introduction of spin also didn't yield much as Ravichandran Ashwin came in for some harsh treatment and conceded 14 runs in his first over.

Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's ploy to operate with pacers in the first seven overs didn't work much as 72 runs were scored in no time. It was left-arm spinner Jadeja who gave Super Kings the second crucial breakthrough by getting rid of Smith, who spooned an easy straightforward catch to Raina.

As long as Smith was batting, Mumbai Indians were on course as they were 86 for one after eight overs. But Smith's dismissal triggered a batting collapse and Mumbai Indians lost their next three wickets for just 14 runs. They kept losing wickets and failed to stitch a decent partnership and were soon left struggling at 101 for four.

Kieron Pollard came up with a cameo of 16-ball 24 and hit two consecutive sixes off Jadeja but the left-arm spinner had the last laugh by getting rid of the burly West Indian in his fifth ball with Hussey taking a good low catch. After Pollard's dismissal, the tail could add just 17 runs at the cost of six wickets before being skittled out with eight balls to spare.

Earlier, Hussey and Raina displayed some clean hitting as Super Kings set a stiff target of 193 for Mumbai Indians.