XtraTime Web Desk: Mumbai Indians Head Coach Mahela Jayawerdene was absolutely spot on in predicting that the strip at Chepauk for the Qualifier I was a 130 run wicket. The Mumbai bowlers did respond to their coach as they restricted Chennai Super Kings for 131/4. At one point the Yellow Army were in danger of scoring even below the 130 runs, but an unbeaten 66 runs partnership between Dhoni (37 off 29) and Rayudu (42 off 37) saw the hosts put up a decent score.
“To lose the toss you need to make sure that you have a target on your head. We were looking them to try and keep them to 130. To do that you need to take wickets. That was the plan to go hard with our spinners and fast bowlers. Create some opportunities and the guys have responded well,” said Mahela during the half way stage of Chennai Innings.
The MI head coach revealed that the team management looked at the Qualifiers like a knock out game. According to Mahela, “We treated it as a knock out game. We didn’t want to buy them the cherry. We wanted to make sure we come in prepared to win this match. We treated it as a group game and try and get two points. That was the attitude.”
He added, “We had discussed that if we don’t bat first we need to keep the score we think we can chase it down with our lineup. Try and create a target as if we are bowling second. Only option was to take wickets up-front.”