In yet another thrilling IPL final, Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by just 1 run to clinch a record fourth title. In the final evening of the 2019 Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat. MS Dhoni said he would have bowled had he won the toss.

Batting first MI scored 149 runs. And while CSK were cruising along nicely in the first part of their innings, some superb bowling by Jasprit Bumrah and two crucial run-outs turned the match. Shane Watson played a starring role for Chennai Super Kings in an IPL final for the second successive year but his efforts were in vain as MI made a spectacular comeback.It was a tense final. It was a thriller. After fortunes shifted both ways, Chennai Super Kings needed 9 off the final over but Lasith Malinga, who had gone for 20 in his previous over, gave away only 7 in the final over of the season to seal a sensational victory for Mumbai Indians. No team had ever defeated Chennai Super Kings 4 times in an IPL season. MI had got the better of CSK in the league stages twice and had crushed them in the first qualifier before the nail-biting win in the final.

MI were on top after Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni were dismissed early before Shane Watson played another top knock in an IPL final. Chasing 150, Chennai Super Kings got off to a quick start. Faf du Plessis led the charge with a quickfire 26 before falling to Krunal Pandya in the 4th over. His wicket allowed Mumbai Indians to put the pressure back on the defending champions.

MI landed the biggest blow in the 13th over. It started with Watson mistiming a Hardik Pandya short ball. It flew towards the short fine-leg and Lasith Malinga misfired a throw, with skipper Rohit Sharma showing his displeasure. But there was more to the drama as MS Dhoni went for an extra run only to be caught short of his crease by Ishan Kishan’s direct-hit, charging in from the deep. While the third umpire Nigel L long took his time to make his decision, he eventually ruled in favor of MI.

Super Kings needed nine runs off the last over but the experienced Lankan pace-man Malinga kept his nerve to concede seven. He trapped Shardul Thakur leg before in the last ball after Watson (80 off 59) got run out two balls earlier. Before that Jasprit Bumrah kept Mumbai in the hunt with his tidy overs and two wickets, getting rid of Dwayne Bravo and Ambati Rayudu. The premier Indian pacer produced 13 dot balls in his testing overs. Young leg-spinner Rahul Chahar also played a key role in the middle overs as he too created pressure by bowling 13 dot balls.

While Dwayne Bravo and Watson kept CSK in the hunt, Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled brilliantly in the night of the final, removed the West Indian in the penultimate over. Although CSK were favorites to win as they needed nine runs from the last over, Watson got out run-out on the fourth ball before Malinga, who had conceded 20 runs in the 18th over, redeemed himself as MI registered a one-run win.

With this victory, Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians became the first side to clinch the record fourth IPL title, having won the titles in 2013, 2015, 2017 before adding one more to their trophy cabinet.