The Great Game Called Cricket...

MUMBAI: Chennai Super Kings were crowned Indian Premier League 3 champions after thumping Mumbai Indians by 22 runs in a thrilling summit clash on Sunday night.

Scorecard | In Pics: Closing Ceremony | Match in Pics

Electing to bat, Chennai posted 168 for five, thanks to Suresh Raina's unbeaten 57 and then restricted Mumbai to 146 for nine to win their maiden IPL title in the grand finale at the packed DY Patil Stadium.

Chennai though had to spend some anxious moments towards the close of Mumbai run-chase with big-hitting Kieron Pollard threatening to almost singlehandedly win the match before he was out in the penultimate over for a 10-ball 27 which was studded with three fours and two sixes.

For Chennai, who have been playing in their second final after finishing runners-up to Rajasthan Royals in 2008, it has been a roller coaster ride having made it to the semifinal in their last league match.

Mumbai, who were playing in an IPL final for the first time, were the most consistent side in the tournament having won 10 of their 14 league matches, but they faltered at the final hurdle.

For Mumbai, captain Sachin Tendulkar, who declared himself fit for the grand finale after sustaining a right hand webbing split in first semifinal, top-scored with a 45-ball 48 which was studded with seven fours but he did not get enough support from his batting colleagues.

Tendulkar's 66-run stand from 58 balls for the second wicket with Abhishek Nayar was the only substantial partnership for Mumbai.

Left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati emerged the most successful Chennai bowler with two for 26 while Doug Bollinger, Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralitharan and Suresh Raina took a wicket apiece.

Mumbai began their run-chase of 169 on a shaky note with opener Shikhar Dhawan failing to score the opening over from Ravichandran Ashwin and was out in the second over bowled by Bollinger for an eight-ball duck.

Mumbai struggled for runs before Tendulkar and Nayar took 10 runs from the fifth over by hitting a four each off Ashwin.

Tendulkar, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Saturday, then smote Albie Morkel for two fours to take Mumbai to 33 for one after the first power-play.

With off-spinner Muralitharan introduced in the seventh over, runs came in trickles and he was unlucky not to have got Nayar with Matthew Hayden dropping the batsman when on eight.

Nayar struck two sixes in as many balls off Jakati in the 10th over to take Mumbai score to 58 for one at the halfway mark.

With the asking rate over 11 by the 10th over, Mumbai looked like pressing the accelerator but they lost two wickets in the 12th over with Nayar and Harbhajan Singh returning to the hut in the space of five balls.

Nayar was run out for a 26-ball 27 after being sent back by Tendulkar and Harbhajan, who was surprisingly sent up the order, was LBW to Raina for just one.

Mumbai's hopes almost ended with the departure of Tendulkar in the 15th over and the veteran batsman, who wore the orange cap for being the tournament top scorer, was out while trying to pushed the run rate, holing out to Murali Vijay off Jakati.

Saurabh Tiwary, who have been in fine form in the tournament, followed Tendulkar three balls later as he holed out to Raina off Jakati for a duck.

Mumbai needed 68 from the last five overs and JP Duminy's (6) departure in the 17th over did not help the Mumbai cause.

But big-hitting Kieron Pollard, who was surprisingly sent in number eight, raised hopes of a stunning victory for Mumbai by singlehandedly taking 22 runs from the 18th over bowled by Bollinger.

Mumbai needed 33 runs from the last two overs but a mix up led to Ambati Rayudu's run out in the fifth ball of the penultimate over and next ball Pollard was out to end Mumbai's dreams of winning the title.

Earlier, Raina took advantage of some sloppy catching by Mumbai Indians as he struck an unbeaten 57 to pilot Chennai Super Kings to 168 for five in the summit clash which was preceded by a 40-minute closing ceremony.

The left-handed Raina, who came one down on team score of 44, was dropped twice -- on 14 and 28 -- before making a crucial 57 not out in 35 balls embellished with three sixes and as many fours.

But for Raina's knock and his 72-run partnership with his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (22 in 15 balls) for the fourth wicket, Chennai would have ended with a much lesser score.

Electing to bat, Chennai made a decent start with openers Matthew Hayden (17) and Murali Vijay (26) putting on 44 runs.

The Mumbai Indians bowling attack then put an effective shackle on the batsmen on a wicket that offered good bounce but on which the ball stopped a bit on the batsmen.

For Mumbai, tall Sri Lanka pace bowler Dilhara Fernando emerged the most successful with 2 for 23 while Zaheer Khan and Kieron Pollard picked one wicket apiece.

Openers Hayden and Vijay started cautiously and saw off one over each from Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga before stepping on the accelerator.

It was the left-handed Hayden, who has been struggling in the tournament, who started the attack by hoisting Harbhajan over long on for the first six of the match in the third over.

Vijay then pulled Zaheer Khan into the stands beyond the mid-wicket area and then punched Malinga exquisitely to the extra cover fence for a four.

Malinga was then square cut by Hayden and the duo looked all-set for a big stand.

But Vijay fell caught just inside the boundary line off a skier by Saurabh Tiwary off Fernando. His 26 came off 19 balls and included two sixes and a four.

From 44 for one, it became 47 for two when Hayden, who survived a close leg before wicket appeal off Zaheer earlier, tried to charge out to Kieron Pollard and mistimed a pull to be caught behind by wicketkeeper Ambati Rayudu.

Chennai progressed to 58 for two after 10 overs, sign that Mumbai have bounced back into the game.

Raina and S Badrinath (14) got together briefly before the latter got out, caught at fine leg for 14 off Fernando.

Then came the most fruitful stand of the innings between Raina and Dhoni. They put on 72 runs in 35 balls.

But after Dhoni fell in the 18th over, it was Raina -- who struck Pollard for two sixes in the 16th over in which the bowler conceded 29 runs -- who made sure that his team ended with a decent total.

The interim chief of the highly lucrative Indian Premier League has said a clean-up of the scandal-hit cricket tournament has begun.

Chirayu Amin promised a "bigger, better and transparent" IPL next year.

Last Sunday, Indian cricket officials suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi and demanded he answer a number of corruption accusations.

The investigation of Mr Modi includes alleged franchise-bid rigging and broadcasting rights irregularities.

Mr Modi has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

The IPL started in 2008 and has become a multi-billion dollar industry, attracting some of India's wealthiest businesspeople to its franchises. The Twenty20 format competition features many of the world's top cricketers.

'Show will go on'

The interim IPL chairman told reporters on Tuesday in Baroda, in Gujarat state, western India, that the "show will go on".

"IPL-IV would be on schedule and it would bigger and better. The cleaning up is already happening. My job is to run IPL in the most transparent manner," Mr Amin said.

He said there would be some changes in the way the event would be held next year.

One of them will be scrapping the controversial after-match parties where people pay up to $1,000 (£650) to mingle with cricketers, fashion models and Bollywood stars.

"I don't know about the cheerleaders (a regular attraction at IPL matches) but the IPL [party] nights will be stopped," he said.

Mr Amin said he would talk to the team owners to assure them their investments were safe.

"My job is to interact with franchises and assure them that their investment is safe and will flourish," he said.

"IPL's brand image is strong and nobody can touch that. It's a storm but it will pass."

Mr Amin said cricket officials were investigating the matter of missing documents relating to franchise bids and broadcast and internet rights for the tournament.

"Nothing is out of control. There has to be a total audit of things. Some documents are missing and we are looking into it," he said.

In a separate interview with a news network, Mr Amin said all members of the IPL governing council "are responsible for what it is happening".

"Certain details were not disclosed to us and we trusted Lalit Modi to act in good faith for the betterment of the game. So I must admit that the governing council could have been more vigilant," he said.

Separately Indian captain MS Dhoni said that the IPL would endure.

"IPL as a brand can survive on its own. But you have to come up with some innovative ideas every time to make it better," he said before his team left for the West Indies for the Twenty20 World Cup.

The crisis erupted after Mr Modi revealed on his Twitter account that a female friend of Shashi Tharoor, a junior government minister, had invested in a consortium that was awarded a new IPL franchise in Kochi.

That revelation sparked Mr Tharoor's resignation and also led to government investigations into the IPL.

Chirayu Amin will be the interim IPL Chairman, after the BCCI top brass who sat in on the Governing Council meeting picked him as the replacement for the suspended Lalit Modi. Amin is a BCCI vice president and the head of the Baroda Cricket Association, and is a member of the IPL's Governing Council. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Alembic Pharmaceuticals. BCCI President, Shashank Manohar had been offered the post, but he refused it, whereupon Amin was appointed.

Addressing the media after the council meeting, Shashank Manohar said that Ratnakar Shetty has also been appointed to look into all the records of the IPL, since many of the documents are missing and the BCCI has been unable to furnish some documents that the Income Tax Department has asked of them.

Manohar opened the media briefing by saying, "The commercial aspect of a great property like the IPL is an important thing. However, ethics and transparency are more important. In the last 15 days, a lot of allegations and counter-allegations have been there in the media. The Board has looked into the allegations levelled and took the decision to issue a show-cause notice to Mr. Modi, and, pending inquiry, decided to suspend him.

"But since the tournament was on, we didn't want any problems caused and didn't want to disrupt the tournament in any way. The show-cause notice was sent only after the presentation ceremony was over."

Manohar left a window of opportunity open for Modi to come out of the proceedings unscathed, saying, "After receiving a reply from Mr. Modi, the Board will hold an inquiry. But if Mr. Modi's reply convinces the members, then the proceedings will be dropped."

On Mr. Ratnakar Shetty's appointment, Manohar said, "We have appointed Mr. Shetty to look into all the records because many of the documents are missing from the IPL offices. Everyday, the Income Tax Department is asking for the documents and we don't have them in our custody. Therefore we have asked Mr. Shetty to look into all these aspects and collect the documents."

Manohar defended himself and the BCCI on charges of lack of professionalism, saying that every organization functioned on trust, and that the Governing Council members often had their hands tied with regard to approving contracts.

"I don't understand your definition of professionalism," Manohar said. "All of us at the BCCI work as honorary members, which means we don't get paid for our time here. But the IPL is a great property and a valuable one, therefore we appointed professionals like IMG - who have conducted high profile events such Wimbledon and FIFA World Cups - and are paying them Rs. 27 crore per year. We appointed a CEO in Sundar Raman, and we appointed separate staff for the IPL.

"Any institution functions on trust. Even in a corporate set-up, the managing director does not check what everybody is doing. If I have to do all the jobs myself, why would I need a secretary or a work force?"

Elaborating on the modus operandi that was followed in signing contracts, Manohar said that most of the contracts that had to be approved were brought before the Governing Council after they were signed, thus presenting the Council with a fait accompli, which left them no option. He cited one such incident with regard to the IPL Awards that were held on the 23rd April.

"I came here (to Bombay) three days ago to look though the documents in light of the ongoing controversy. I called Sundar Raman and asked for the contracts of the function for the IPL Awards, and he said there were no contracts since everything was finalized just last night. He told me this at 3 p.m. and the awards were to be held at 7 p.m. So in this case, what can the Governing Council do? Can we say that we reject this contract and the function is over? This is an example of how some things were beyond the Council's control."

On Modi's suspension, Manohar said that it was not a punishment, but merely a necessary step since allegations had to be investigated in a free and fair manner.

"It is the duty of the board to look into all the allegations made and to have a free and fair inquiry. It is necessary to suspend a person so that there is no scope for interfering. Suspension is not a punishment. It is, as i said, only there so that a free and fair inquiry can be held."

The charges being investigated against Lalit Modi were the following:

* The initial bids for the Kings XI Punjab and the Rajasthan Royals

* The broadcasting bid for the IPL

* Rigging the bid for the two new franchises

* The internet rights of the IPL

* The behavioural pattern of Lalit Modi

Manohar also elaborated on the holding pattern of the Rajasthan Royals, where he revealed that the initial bid was made by a company called Emerging Media based out of the United Kingdom, owned solely by one person - Mr. Manoj Badale. However, the documents were signed by an entity called Jaipur IPL. He questioned how the bid was filed by one party and the documents signed by another. He also said that, "Modi made a statement that the entire world knows who are the owners of the franchises, but the fact is that even the Governing Council members are not aware of that."

Meanwhile, Modi seemed unflustered by the entire controversy. Writing on his twitter page, he said "Thank you all for your message of support. It is really appreciated. I am still chairman of IPL. Just suspended. Wait - we have just begun. Had a restful day. Been in the spa all day. Much needed rest."

Team India is West-Indies-bound for the T20 World Cup, but the most successful batsmen of IPL Season 3 is not boarding that flight. Sachin Tendulkar will be missed by every Indian, but India skipper MS Dhoni says, "we must respect Sachin's decision to retire from T20."

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Dhoni, who also spoke about winning the IPL and lots more, said of course the team would miss Sachin, but "I respect his decision, whatever he says because he has done well, given his services to Indian cricket for the last 20 years, if he decides something than we should just respect it."

The Captain is sure the presence of his Chennai Super Kings teammate, opener Murli Vijay, will stand the team in good stead. The in-form Murli has come in at the last minute for Virendra Sehwag, who has dropped out of the tournament.
(Read: IPL needs more minds)

Dhoni is also bullish about his bowlers and is happy with the inclusion in the squad of young Piyush Chawla. "Pragyan Ojha has done relatively well in all three seasons of IPL, same is the case with Amit Mishra who has done really well, but you have to see in this format of t20 cricket, if you have somebody like Harbhajan Singh or Yusuf Pathan, Ravinder Jadeja, who have been doing this job of bowling with batting, in this equation Piyush Chawla gets an edge and he is the best fielder among the lot. We need somebody who can do a bit of batting at the same time. Captains get greedy by saying that you don't need a batsman at number 8 but there is no harm."

And can Team India reprise the thrilling win of three years ago so soon after a hectic IPL season? "This isn't the first time we are playing World Cup and not first time that we are playing so much. We should stop asking. We play throughout the year, five years before or after we will keep playing...the only factor is hopefullly we dont have any major injuries to any players," says the man in command.

n December 2005, the BCCI circulated a vision paper titled "The cricket board in the 21st century". It covered topics such as "quality of grounds and pitches", "infrastructure development", "marketing and merchandising" and "National Cricket Academy". Though presumably shelved immediately after and forgotten since, it was a bold statement of intent, one befitting the occasion - the first working committee meeting under Sharad Pawar's presidency in an entity that was already assuming its current leviathan proportions.

The most important point, though, was the preamble. Written in the aftermath of the board election that ended the much-vilified Jagmohan Dalmiya regime and began the Pawar era, it spoke of the fans' expectations of the new dispensation whose buzzword, it said, would be transparency. Just over four years later those expectations have been rudely shattered, and Pawar and his associates stand discredited. The future looks bleak but if Shashank Manohar - who finally has a chance to run Indian cricket as his own man - needs a plan to revive the board's credibility, he need look no further than that eerily prescient vision document.

Read now, though, that preamble is a mockery of whatever Sharad Pawar and his colleagues have done in their time at the helm. In fact their prescription for the board in 2005 is needed, now more than ever, in the wake of the worst scandal by far to engulf Indian cricket. The saddest part of the vision document is that, though four years old, it has not dated, instead it has become even more relevant.

"Some of the happenings during the last few years have grievously dented the board's image," the vision document says. "Our first priority should be to restore its pristine glory by creating confidence among the followers of the game that the board is indeed a sincere custodian of Indian cricket. Frankly the question being asked is, as the richest body in world cricket, has it fulfilled its obligations towards the players and paying public? For that we all need to introspect and touch our hearts before saying 'yes, we have'."

That time for introspection has come, with the Board's credibility at an all-time low - and with the pendulum of public sympathy swinging dangerously, if improbably, towards Modi. Perhaps the only fact in this whole stew of allegations is that not a single charge against Modi has yet been proved - he is as innocent or as guilty as anyone else. Public perception shouldn't matter too much to the BCCI - things would not have come to such a pass if it did - but it does matter to a senior politician like Pawar, who faces elections in his home state of Maharashtra next year. Pawar also takes up the ICC presidency two months from now and his immense clout would be undermined by any mud sticking to him.

Over the past few days there has been much talk of who could set this right - the government, the judiciary, a collegium of corporate leaders. The Army, that go-to for all India's problems, has presumably been ruled out because of a conflict of interest - there's a Services team in the Ranji Trophy. None of that will work, though, without corrective measures from within.

Can it be done? Back to that preamble: "As a premier national sports body, the board had been a model for all others sports organizations, but of late it has invited scorn from the public. In a fast paced world driven by market forces, we have to gear up to meet the ever increasing challenges and aspirations of a cricket-crazy nation. When the country is getting excited about the Right to Information Act, the Board is being ridiculed for its lack of transparency. Unless we believe in the free flow of information, particularly when millions and millions of rupees are involved, we are bound to be misunderstood. There can't be a better start to the new-look board than resolve that everything we do from hereon will be transparent and in the game's and public interest, be it election or allotting television rights or the team selection.

"The buzz word should be "Transparency.'"

Later, the document deals specifically with the issue of television rights. "The Board wants to end speculation over the selling of television rights. It would like to come up with a transparent method which will not only benefit the Board financially but will also help in restoring its image as an organisation which has become the epicenter of international cricket."

No one will hold the BCCI to every word in this document. But if they can, over the next few days, weeks and months, stay true to this buzzword, there may be some chance of the mess being resolved. Otherwise let's hope they find the world's biggest carpet under which to shovel the dirt.

The BCCI has suspended Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, for "alleged acts of individual misdemeanours", bringing down the curtains on one particularly unsavoury episode in the BCCI's history but very possibly leaving the door open for more twists in this saga. Modi's three-year reign was effectively ended moments after the conclusion of the tournament final in Mumbai on Sunday and he responded in melodramatic fashion with an emotional speech at the awards ceremony.

The suspension notice was served on him by Rajeev Shukla, a BCCI vice-president, at the conclusion of Sunday's game, with N Srinivasan, the board secretary, sending an email to the same effect. It followed a day of negotiations with interlocutors attempting to persuade Modi to resign but pre-empted a potentially flashpoint at Monday's scheduled IPL governing council meeting, which Modi had said he would attend. He is now officially barred from participating in the affairs of the Board, the IPL and any other committee of the BCCI and has 15 days to respond to the charges levelled at him.

The public confirmation of his suspension came in a statement from BCCI president Shashank Manohar issued shortly after the end of Sunday's final. "Alleged acts of individual misdemeanours of Mr Lalit K Modi, chairman IPL and vice president BCCI, have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket and the game itself," it said.

"I have waited for IPL 2010 to conclude in order to respond to the situation as I did not want the event to be disrupted in any manner. Immediately after the conclusion of the IPL final, the secretary, BCCI Mr N Srinivasan has in consultation with me issued a show cause notice to Mr. Lalit K Modi under Rule 32 (iv) calling upon him to show cause within 15 days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him. Simultaneously, in exercise of the powers vested in me under Rule 32 (vii), I have suspended Mr. Lalit K Modi from participating in the affairs of the Board, the IPL, the working committee and any other committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India."

Modi had apparently received that notice by the time he went up to the podium for the post-match presentations, and it prompted an emotional, lengthy speech. "We have had some off field unpleasant dramas only based on innuendo, half truths and motivated leaks from all kinds of sources," he said. "I assure you all decisions have been taken jointly by the governing council and approved by the general body... Still, as the leader of the team, if there is any flouting of rules or any other financial irregularity, I will take full responsibility."

Earlier, before he received the notice, he had taken a similar combative stand while talking to NDTV. Informed of the imminent suspension, he said: ""Good for them. Are they so scared of me attending? Are they so scared of the truth?"

His allusion was to the growing perception that Modi alone was not responsible for the alleged misdemeanours, that there were other, possibly more powerful forces at play as well. Those forces would have preferred Modi to resign, resulting in a swift and clean break, rather than be sacked, which would necessitate a formal inquiry and the production of potentially damaging documents.

In any case, Modi's suspension rules him out of Monday's IPL governing council meeting. The meeting had been convened by Srinivasan but Modi had, on Sunday evening, sent out an agenda that included "a discussion on any complaints received in writing from members of the governing council against the chairman, other members of the council and/or the BCCI."It also said members of the governing council "had been requested to give all such complaints in writing with the requisite supporting documents".

The agenda is now likely to focus more on life after Lalit: picking an interim IPL chairman and working out a plan for the future. BCCI sources say for the moment Manohar will himself take charge of the IPL sub-committee. The first few weeks are likely to be spent in a clean-up operation and a scrutiny of the Modi-era transactions.

The actual management of the league is likely to be handed over to a CEO - probably appointed from outside - with reduced powers but greater assistance. He could be assisted by department heads for marketing, finance, logistics and the like.

Old Father Time: By any standards, it was a terrible innings from Matthew Hayden. There was one stroke, a shuffle down the track to Harbhajan followed by a loft over wide long-on that reminded those watching of the glory years, but otherwise his 17 from 31 balls was akin to seeing a boxer trying to throw punches he once had. When he skied one straight up in the air, even his team-mates must have heaved a sigh of relief. He was a solid slip fielder for Australia, but today he floundered there as well, failing to take a leading edge of Abhishek Nayar at first slip. It might be the last we see of him on a cricket field.

Raina doubts himself: Not sure if Suresh Raina had a hunch. When Kieron Pollard charged in to bowl the first ball to Raina, the batsman squatted and ducked as though expecting a short delivery. Pollard, though, failed to deliver the ball and was surprised to see Raina react in such a dramatic fashion. Perhaps, Raina was fighting his own ghosts.

Dumb and dumber: Finding it hard to gain the upper hand against some disciplined bowling Raina went for the slog against Zaheer Khan and the leading edge looped towards short third man. It was an easy catch for either of the two fielders - Abhishek Nayar moving back from point and the steadily advancing Dilhara Fernando from deep third man. But both played "After you, after you" and watched the ball drop between them. Zaheer, shocked, spat out a mouthful of curses towards the duo.

Raina was on 13 when the Nayar-Fernando fiasco happened. But on 28 a similar miscue went high in Zaheer's direction. He swayed and stumbled under it, managed to stretch and get both hands to it and then saw the ball slip out. Raina carved the next ball over cover for six, and finished with an unbeaten 57.

Look ma, one hand: MS Dhoni has hit some awesome sixes in his career, and this one was close to his best. Full from Pollard, and Dhoni heaved so hard that the bottom hand came off the bat handle. No matter. The ball went nearly 100m over midwicket.

Mahi gets Pollard: Yes, the card will reveal Hayden caught him off Albie Morkel. But the dismissal was plotted by Dhoni. As Pollard took 22 runs off Doug Bollinger in the 18th over and threatened Chennai, Dhoni moved Hayden from mid-on to an unorthodox straight mid-off, anticipating that Pollard would go for the straight boundary. So when Morkel bowled a fuller length in the channel, Pollard scooped a straight and low catch to Hayden, who finally had his first smile of the evening.

has added another feather to his captaincy hat. It was he who started the turnaround against a formidable Mumbai Indians attack, his deputy Suresh Raina capitalised on two dropped catches to score a crucial fifty, and Chennai Super Kings defended with aggression, smartness and flair to win the third IPL. Chennai were struggling at 68 for 3 after 12 overs when Dhoni got into the act: 100 runs were added in the last eight, and Raina scored 44 at a strike-rate of 200 after the first drop. The win concluded a fourth consecutive one-sided knockout in the tournament.

Ever since R Ashwin started the defence with a maiden over, Mumbai never really threatened Chennai. Sachin Tendulkar, playing with a split webbing, played his least fluent innings of the tournament, scoring a laboured 48 off 45. Mumbai tried some strange moves: promotions for Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh bombed, and even at the fall of the fifth wicket, with 69 required off 31, Kieron Pollard was not the man making his way out of the dugout.

There were no problems with tactics for Chennai: they went with the old-fashioned approach of keeping wickets in hand, never mind the slow start, and with M Vijay breaking free, had reached a perfectly acceptable 40 for no loss at the end of Powerplay. Dilhara Fernando brought Mumbai back, removing Vijay with his split-finger slower ball in the eighth over. Pollard ended Matthew Hayden's 31-ball 17-run misery, and S Badrinath holed out in the 12th over.

Dhoni left alone the first ball he faced, was beaten by a legcutter after that, was almost bowled the next ball, and worked a single to end that testing Fernando over. Mumbai can file for lack of sufficient warning for what was to come next. The first ball Dhoni faced from Pollard he charged down and hit him into the second tier - with one hand. The next ball Pollard ran in and didn't let go, stares were exchanged, and Tendulkar rushed in to apologise to the batsman: it was the second time Pollard had done this in his 2.1 overs. Dhoni's bat spoke emphatically, though, with a punch for four to end the over.

Tendulkar was warned sufficiently by now: he had to bring Lasith Malinga, whose yorkers have been near perfect, back before he would have ideally liked to. Dhoni charged at him, converted one into a low full toss, and hit a boundary to extra cover.

Zaheer Khan was brought back in the next over. He produced a top edge that neither Fernando (running in from third man) nor Abhishek Nayar (running back from point) claimed. Salt was in ready supply for Zaheer's wound: out of nowhere Raina produced timing and a four and a six to take Chennai to 108 after 15 overs. In the over that followed, Pollard eked out a skier from Raina, which Zaheer dropped. The next ball Raina made room and lofted over extra cover for six. The ball after was hit to Tendulkar, and cannily they exposed his injured hand by stealing a second. And the next was slogged over midwicket for six. Mumbai needed a time-out to figure out what had hit them.

Fernando, three overs for 12 until then, bowled a poor last over to nearly double the tally. Malinga started the last over superbly: bat couldn't meet ball for the first four deliveries, and Albie Morkel was run out in panic. Then it came apart: five wides, followed by a length ball driven over extra cover, and some manic running, and they were chasing the biggest total in an IPL final.

A maiden over was not the best way to start for Mumbai, but losing Shikhar Dhawan in the second was even worse. The next 10 overs featured smart spin bowling, hustling fielders, run-out opportunities created, signs of desperation of Tendulkar, and eventually the wickets of Nayar and Harbhajan in the 12th over. With the required rate going past 12 an over, Tendulkar holed out to long-off, and Raina pulled off a blinder, running in from deep midwicket, to send back Saurabh Tiwary. To everybody's surprise, JP Duminy walked out, and by the time he walked back, he had left Mumbai 55 to get in three overs.

Pollard made a match out of this too: taking 22 runs off Bollinger's 18th over. Morkel bowled a tight 19th over, with a long-off, and a mid-off up in the circle and so straight it was almost behind him. Pollard hit a catch to him: it just highlighted which captain had got it right on the night.

Match Meter

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MI
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Fernando removes Vijay: Chennai are 40 for 0 after six overs, and Vijay has hit two sixes. Fernando gets him, and two more follow to make it 67 for 3.

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Dhoni counter-attacks: In the 13th over, Dhoni smacks Pollard for a six and a four, followed by a boundary off Malinga to revive Chennai.

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Mumbai drop, Raina capitalises: Mumbai drop Raina twice in the last six overs, and he moves from 13 off 13 to 57 off 35 to take Chennai to the highest total in an IPL final.

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CSK
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Mumbai start poorly: A maiden over first up, a wicket in the second, 10 more overs of slow scoring and desperation, and Mumbai are 73 for 3 after 12 overs.

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CSK
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Pollard kept under covers: In the 15th over of the chase, Mumbai lose two more wickets, and even with 69 required off 31, Pollard is held back.

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Pollard sizzles, Dhoni stays cool: With 55 required off 18, Pollard hits 22 runs in the 18th over, but smart field placings and bowling in the 19th consume Pollard.

Advantage Honours even

Indian cricketers Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni have paid tribute to Sachin Tendulkar, who turned 37 on Saturday. According to Harbhajan, age was "just a number for Paaji [Tendulkar]" while Dhoni said he often joked there was a chance that he might retire before Tendulkar.

Tendulkar is presently recovering from a split webbing and is hoping to be fit for Sunday's IPL final between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Harbhajan said winning the title would be "a wonderful gift from the team and a beautiful way of saying thanks."

"Just look at his [Tendulkar's] wealth of accomplishments in the last six months. The way he is going about his business is just unbelievable," Harbhajan told Times of India. "His hunger for runs is getting bigger by the day and he is also very consistent. He is still enjoying his game and it will be no exaggeration to say that he is leaving all the youngsters behind. To me Sachin is just like a 17-year old. And I want him to be around for as long as possible."

Harbhajan also praised Tendulkar's captaincy in this year's IPL, especially the way he handled the younger players in the Mumbai squad. "Given his larger-than-life image, youngsters are initially in awe of him, but Sachin takes the lead in breaking the ice and making them feel comfortable. He keeps things simple and is always encouraging the younger players. For every youngster in the side, he is just a phone call away. It says a lot about the person."

Dhoni said Tendulkar was the reason he started playing cricket and that he "continues to be a huge source of inspiration". "As far as his career is concerned, he seems to have got the reverse gear going. I have joked before that there is a good chance that I might retire before Tendulkar," Dhoni said. "While Federer's one big wish is to see his twin daughters watch him play at a Grand Slam tournament, Sachin's son Arjun has already had the privilege of watching his father from the stands. That says a lot about his skill and endurance."

The IPL Awards Night was held at a Mumbai hotel on Friday evening with several senior BCCI officials missing, in another sign of the deepening rift between IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and his colleagues in the BCCI. There were unconfirmed reports that Modi had requested a postponement of Monday's IPL governing council meeting but the BCCI did not appear inclined to entertain any such request.

The awards ceremony went ahead in the absence of BCCI president Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan and IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah. Those who attended included team owners Vijay Mallya (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Preity Zinta (Kings XI Punjab), Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra (Rajasthan Royals), Gayatri Reddy (Deccan Chargers) and Jai Mehta (Kolkata Knight Riders). Sunil Gavaskar, a member of the IPL Governing Council, attended, though many of his colleagues did not.

At the awards Modi thanked the BCCI, among others, for making his "17-year-old dream" come true. "I thank the BCCI, the franchises, the players, the sponsors and most of all the millions of fans for helping create the most successful cricket league in the world, for making the IPL what it is today."

Shah indicated that the BCCI would take a hard line with Modi. "The IPL is far bigger than any one individual," he told BBC Sport. "Everyone has to fall in line with the rules of the institution. The meeting is on, whether Mr Modi is there or not. We need to draw a line under this matter."

A PTI story quoted sources as saying Modi had, for the second time in three days, sought a postponement of Monday's meeting, citing his hectic schedule of the past few weeks leading up to Sunday night's tournament final. The meeting was called to address the wide range of allegations of financial impropriety against the league and its commissioner and it is widely speculated that Modi will be ousted from his post at the meeting.

"I need to prepare the documents to support my replies to all the questions," the report quoted Modi as saying in a mail to the BCCI. "I have worked for you (BCCI) for five long years without taking any money, consider giving me just five days for the documents."

Modi had made a similar request on April 21, which was firmly turned down by BCCI president Shashank Manohar. A BCCI source told Cricinfo there would be no change in that stand.

There were also reports - which Modi has denied - that he was contemplating taking the BCCI to court over the legality of the meeting.

If Modi skips the meeting, the governing council meeting is expected to pass a resolution to remove him from the post of IPL commissioner and chairman. He had insisted through the week that he would not resign in the wake of the controversy tarnishing the IPL.

The IPL jury awards:

Best Debut Performance - Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians), Best Batsman - Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians), Best Bowler - Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers), Best Dramatic Performance - Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians), Most Consistent Performer - Jacques Kallis (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Best Breakthrough Performance 2008 - Brendon McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders), Best Breakthrough Performance 2009 - Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Best Fielder - AB de Villiers (Delhi Daredevils), Best Ground - Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Best Stadium Experience - DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

There is no sign of a compromise between Lalit Modi and the BCCI over the IPL with a day to go for the crucial IPL governing council meeting. On Saturday, the BCCI top leadership was huddled in a series of meetings planning their strategy for Monday; by the evening Modi ended his silence of several days by sending out a message through his Twitter feed that he would not be backing down in what he called a "trial by media".

Adding to the complexity of the situation were the statements of support for Modi from franchise owners, whose role in resolving the crisis - by way of compatibility with any future leadership - would be crucial.

Amid the shadow-boxing and unstated positions was the question of how Sharad Pawar - officially the ICC's president-elect but de facto still the most powerful man in Indian cricket - would defuse a crisis that has seen his family and that of his party and cabinet colleague Praful Patel dragged in. There were reports that Pawar was working on a compromise formula that would see Modi exit the IPL without being disgraced but it is not clear whether such a deal would stand scrutiny from those more hostile to Modi both within the board and - given Pawar's political avatar - in the public sphere.

On record, the most dramatic statements were from Modi, who broke a five-day silence by coming out on Twitter. "People pressurising me to resign - I can tell you will not happen. Let them remove me then," he tweeted. "Truth will prevail soon. Trial by media and no chance to present the facts is like the wild west.

"Wait for the IPL to finish," he said, "I will reveal the men who have tried to bring disrepute to the game and how we stopped them from doing it."

His messages came a day after the IPL's awards ceremony, where the BCCI's top two officials were missing, and a day before the tournament final. On Friday night, his speech at the awards ceremony was interpreted as a sort of farewell speech and the tone continued in Saturday's tweets. "What we have done has been there for all of you to see for the past 4 years. No one can take that away."

The men who would take that away spent the day first at the BCCI headquarters and later, reportedly, at a city hotel trying to sort out the legal, administrative and political issues. The IPL's governing council will meet formally on Monday morning - BCCI president Shashank Manohar confirmed the meeting would go ahead as scheduled - to discuss the issue but they would like a plan in place by then.

Speculation has begun on who will replace Modi as IPL chairman, with Manohar a clear front-runner for a role in an overseeing capacity, and Ravi Shastri, the former India all-rounder, an outside bet for an executive position. Those familiar with the situation suggest that Manohar's name will be nominated for the chairman's position as soon as a consensus is taken on Modi.

"Shashank Manohar should be the first choice," one of the IPL governing council members told Cricinfo. "In whatever capacity he is willing to serve, he is the ideal replacement."

Punters had already tipped Manohar as a favourite for interim chairman of the IPL as Modi's grip over the IPL weakened by the minute in the last week over numerous allegations that have federal agencies like the Income-Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate investigating all aspects of the league's operations.

Unlike the high profile that Modi has maintained, Manohar is low key, almost austere and inscrutable. A lawyer by profession, he mostly operates from his hometown of Nagpur. His biggest strengths are his simplicity and discipline - and, perhaps, his reluctance to entertain the media. "He is honest and has no allegiance to anyone else. Also his untainted image is necessary for the board at the moment," said the source.

But not everyone is entirely sure if Manohar's clean image by itself makes him a suitable choice. "A large part of working in the IPL is you are dealing with team owners who are not used to taking no for an answer," a franchise official said. "You need somebody who is used to dealing with the corporate world. People who works for only the BCCI or for himself like Shashank Manohar, who is a lawyer, is used to diktats and not used to dealing with industry bosses. If you don't understand their problems then there will be huge differences."

A better choice, according to the official, would be Shastri, whose cricketing background coupled with his diversified interests in the corporate field make him a good proposition. Shastri has logged in more than a decade in the corporate industry in areas such as television, and event management. "The IPL sits on a huge bridge between industry and cricket. Being a man who has his own event management company, knows the showbiz, has worked on both sides, Shastri is not a bad choice. That in this case could prove to be a vital difference," the franchise official pointed out.

The franchises are a big factor in this issue and on Saturday there was some support for Modi, who has been the target of what some have called a witch-hunt, from two franchise owners. Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore franchise, met Pawar and is believed to have pleaded Modi's case. "Modi must be given an opportunity at some point of time to explain himself. This whole controversy has become an unnecessary toofan (storm). Yes, there may be some questions about the way in which IPL runs. Clearly, some governing council members may not be happy. Let all that be properly investigated," Mallya said after the meeting.

Also on Saturday, the actress Preity Zinta, a co-owner of the Punjab franchise, said Modi has been unfairly singled out and deserved credit for making the IPL what it is. Her comments echoed those of Jay Mehta, the co-owner of the Kolkata franchise, on Friday; he said, "To make one person the fall guy for this is unfortunate". There were also tweets from Shah Rukh Khan and Shilpa Shetty, stakeholders in the Kolkata and Jaipur franchises, supporting Modi.

In a yawn-inducing crawl, Deccan Chargers meandered to 82, the lowest total of the season, and Royal Challengers Bangalore knocked it off without much fuss to book their spot in the next Champions League.

Not many people bothered to turn up for the game, nine Deccan batsmen scored less than five runs and a dull, almost anaesthetic, atmosphere prevailed through their innings. Adam Gilchrist's early dismissal set the tone for the innings: It was a slow gentle full toss from Anil Kumble and while it was in its trajectory you felt it was going to be smashed for a six but Gilchrist contrived to hit it to deep backward square-leg where Jacques Kallis took a neat catch.

It was that kind of a dull and dreary night. Perhaps the loss in semi-final had sapped Deccan, perhaps it was just one of those nights when nothing went right for them and it made for almost painful watching experience.

Bangalore ticked off all the boxes that were required of them: Kumble showed his intent by opening against Gilchrist, Praveen Kumar mixed his cutters with slower ones in a tight spell, and Dale Steyn, though not as pacy as he has been in this tournament so far, was accurate to keep the batsmen in check. Monish Mishra played all around a straight delivery from Praveen to be trapped in front and Rohit Sharma threw his wicket away with a lame pull shot to mid-on.

Much depended on Andrew Symonds at that stage and he even got a reprieve when Steyn ran in too much at fine-leg to drop a catch but he fell on the very next delivery. He backed away to try force Steyn through the off side but edged it behind to the keeper to leave Deccan struggling at 27 for 4 in 6.1 overs. And it soon turned to 35 for 5 when a clueless Dwayne Smith had his Richard Blakey moment against Kumble: It was a slider that came in from just outside off but Smith stabbed at thin air and looked slightly sheepish when he lost his off stump.

It was only due to Anirudh Singh, one of many changes in the Deccan set-up for this game, that Deccan avoided complete embarrassment. He probably would pick a sliced square-drive over backward point off Steyn as his top shot though a thumping drive over covers off a slower one from the same bowler too caught the eye. There was even a six against Nayan Doshi, who made an impressive IPL debut, but Anirudh mainly dealt in nudged singles. When he fell in the 16th over, bowled by Kallis, Deccan lost their only hope of reaching 100.

Rahul Dravid and Kallis ensured Bangalore got off to a solid start and once they achieved it, it was always going be a just a stroll in the park for them. Though Kallis fell in the eight over, Dravid guided Bangalore through in the company of Kevin Pietersen.

Match Meter

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RCB
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Adam Gilchrist combusts: It was a gentle full toss from Anil Kumble but Gilchrist swings it to deep backward square-leg fielder. It sets the tone for Deccan's abysmal batting performance

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RCB
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Rohit Sharma throws his wicket away: Rohit pulls a short-of-length delivery lamely to mid-on and the innings never recovered after that.

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RCB
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Andrew Symonds falls: Symonds had just been reprieved by Dale Steyn at the fine-leg boundary but he falls off the next delivery. He backed away to try thrash a Steyn delivery but ends up edging it behind

Advantage Honours even

Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians captain, has said he is confident the IPL is strong enough to overcome the ongoing crisis, which began with the controversy over the ownership of the Kochi franchise and now involves the league being investigated by the Income Tax department, and Lalit Modi heading for a showdown with the BCCI.

"Life is not a smooth journey always, there are sometimes rough patches in between, and you overcome all those hurdles. I'm sure cricket will help overcome all those hurdles," he told Times Now. "I think when that competitiveness is witnessed by millions, you leave all those things behind.

"People are waiting to see [the IPL matches]. Every evening they are switching on their television to see a competitive match. I personally feel all these obstacles and hurdles will be [overcome]."

The BCCI called for a meeting of the IPL's governing council on April 26 to deal with the problems but Modi objected to it. Modi had, in a letter to BCCI president Shashank Manohar, questioned the validity of Monday's meeting; it has been called by N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary who is also the owner of the IPL's Chennai franchise, and Modi pointed to the conflict of interest in his calling the meeting. Manohar has since rejected that notion.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians are waiting to see if Tendulkar, who split his webbing while attempting a catch against Royal Challengers Bangalore, will be fit for the IPL final on April 25. Tendulkar said "the stitches would not come off for the next eight days."

In the first instance of introspection over the IPL mess, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the former India captain and a member of the league's governing council, has said the body failed in its role to monitor the IPL's administration and be more questioning of decisions taken. Pataudi also said he believed Modi could have a chance of staying on in his current role if he attends Monday's meeting.

There are reports that Modi - who was questioned for six-odd hours by federal tax officials on Thursday - is planning to move Bombay High Court on Friday for a postponement of that meeting, though he told Cricinfo such reports were "rubbish". Modi had, in a letter to BCCI president Shashank Manohar, questioned the validity of Monday's meeting saying he is the only one who can convene an IPL meeting. Manohar has since rejected that notion.

Aviation minister dragged into row

* The intricate mesh of politics, business and sport that is the IPL controversy stood out in sharper focus on Thursday with the release of an email concerning franchise valuation details with a mail chain that included the office of India's aviation minister, his daughter - an IPL employee - and Shashi Tharoor, who resigned from the cabinet over his links to the Kochi franchise. The mail was sent from the minister's office to Tharoor on March 19, two days before the second bidding for the new franchises.
* The mail is considered significant since two days ago the minister, Praful Patel, had said he had no links with the IPL. Patel is a member of the party headed by Sharad Pawar, the ICC's president-elect. "Shashi Tharoor called me because he was putting together a team," Patel explained. "He wanted me to speak to Lalit Modi and help him out. This has got nothing to do with IPL. This is a needless controversy."

The entire controversy has raised questions over the lack of monitoring by the BCCI and the IPL's governing council, which also includes Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. It's a point Pataudi conceded too. "The IPL governing council should have been aware, they felt things were okay," he said on NDTV. "It has been a failure ... we should have been aware of what was happening. The fact that we didn't question anything is because we were carried away with how well everything was going."

Asked why he did not act, Pataudi said: "I saw the crowds, the IPL was very popular ... the dirt that has been attached to it is sad... but as long as the product was good, I was happy. But we should have been more aware and more understanding. So if you say this governing council should be sacked, I'd say it's a valid question."

A major issue to have emerged in the past few days has been the cases of conflict of interest in the IPL. It's a point Modi made in his mail to Manohar about Monday's meeting - his point was that it had been called by N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary who is also the owner of the IPL's Chennai franchise.

That link, Pataudi said, essentially justified Modi's relatives having stakes in IPL teams - but with one rider. What mattered, he said, was whether Modi, like Srinivasan, had taken the BCCI into confidence on the matter. "Let's put it this way, there are certain issues which were settled even before the first IPL met, the governing council met. And that was that the board gave permission for a BCCI office-bearer to own a team," he said.

"If a BCCI office-bearer can own a team then I think why cannot Mr Modi's relations also? Question is, did he ask permission of the BCCI? That I don't know."

Another contentious issue has been the allegation that a "facilitation fee" was paid during the renegotiation of the TV rights in 2009. Pataudi said it was not discussed at any meeting where he was present. Asked whether, on this issue, the governing council was looking the other way or whether it didn't get what was going on, Pataudi said it was "a bit of both". It wasn't aware, he said, and was looking away in the sense that everything was going well and it didn't need to look any further.

Pataudi explained his perspective on why the knives are now out for Modi. "Many don't like Lalit Modi's style of functioning. He should have done it in a different way." Modi's biggest failure, he said, was that he had been doing it all alone. "He doesn't want anyone else involved... that is his biggest strength and his biggest weakness. His style puts people off."

Pataudi, though, said he believed Modi's best bet was to attend the meeting and plead for more time if he needed it to answer the allegations directed at him. "If he doesn't come to the meeting, I suspect the BCCI will take a very strict view," he said on NDTV." The BCCI will have no choice but to be harsh with Modi. Lalit is playing very hard to get. I am not sure what Modi is up to." He added there's unlikely to be a need for a formal vote against Modi; it would, he said, be sorted through consensus.

In the Twenty20 format, teams can't afford to be predictable. Yesterday's innovation can be today's recipe for disaster. But ahead of Sunday's final, both teams are likely to spend a fair bit of time pondering the Chennai Super Kings' new-ball combination. Doug Bollinger and R Ashwin were tremendous in the semi-final, and have forged the most unlikely of alliances over the past five games. Chennai have won three of those, and the losses were more a result of shoddy batting than any slip-ups from the bowlers.

"We've done well, haven't we?" said Bollinger after the four-wicket haul that got him Man-on-the-Match honours and guaranteed that the most consistent team over the three years of competition would get a shot at Champions League Twenty20 glory. If they do go on to take the trophy, Chennai - who were 2-5 and sinking at one stage - should be grateful for the injuries to Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram that sent the scouts looking for a pace bowler of genuine quality.

In seven games, Bollinger has 11 wickets, and Thursday's game was the perfect opportunity to settle scores with the Deccan Chargers, who had taken 31 off three wicketless overs when the two teams met in Nagpur earlier this month. It was also a chance to get the Dharamsala game out of his system. There, for whatever reason, MS Dhoni broke up the pace-spin new-ball combo and made Bollinger bowl in tandem with Sudeep Tyagi, who had been hideously expensive all season. Tyagi was predictably slaughtered, Bollinger went for 39 in his four and it took some Dhoni heroics with the bat to salvage Chennai's campaign.

On Thursday, Tyagi was not to be seen, and nor were the other new-ball exponents who have hardly distinguished themselves. Ashwin, who had taken 2 for 13 against Deccan in an earlier game, was restored to new-ball duty and between them, he and Bollinger finished with 5 for 27.

On Sunday, the two might have to contend with Sachin Tendulkar, injured hand and all. In Chennai in early April, dehydration took him off the field and transformed Mumbai's run chase. Such oppressive weather won't be an ally in Mumbai, and the duo will have to think up ways to combat a batsman who has mastered the format despite not playing it internationally.

Chennai loaded the side with spinners for the semi-final, and on a sluggish pitch it paid off. Given their depressingly mediocre pace resources, a similar strategy could be employed for the final. Despite the concern over the decline in Matthew Hayden's output, the lack of impact from Michael Hussey and Justin Kemp should mean that he keeps his place.

As for Deccan, after their five-game winning run, this was a depressing way to surrender the title. They will look back on two ordinary overs from RP Singh and Ryan Harris that took the score from 116 to 142, and also to the extremely timid start to their own innings.

T Suman and Rohit Sharma, who had been such impressive foils for Andrew Symonds in the middle order, both failed and Adam Gilchrist's failure to reprise his remarkable semi-final innings of a year ago was crucial as well. Given how little he contributed with the bat over the final month, it was quite an achievement to even make the final four.

Dhoni and Chennai can dream of bigger things than third place, and it says much about the competitive nature of the league that a team that finished with a 50% record is now contesting the final against the runaway leaders. On paper, Mumbai should walk it, but if the pitch is slow, Chennai's spin phalanx and Bollinger could well silence a raucous home crowd.

Chennai Super Kings, boosted by a determined display from their bowlers led by Doug Bollinger, put an end to Deccan Chargers' run of five consecutive wins to qualify for the IPL final for the second time. They overcame a poor start, aided by a measured partnership from MS Dhoni and S Badrinath, and a late surge from S Anirudha helped post 142 in tricky conditions. Bollinger and R Ashwin then crippled Deccan in their chase, and the rest contributed to chip away at the middle order, to seal a hard-fought win.

Deccan, given their successful run, would have backed themselves to overhaul Chennai's score comfortably. The conditions were aiding swing and movement, and the pitch was taking turn, but that had little to do with their slow start to the chase. Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs, both searching for form, batted in a manner contrary to their reputation, preferring caution over attack in the Powerplay. Bollinger varied his lengths and Ashwin, like he has for much of the tournament, altered his pace and flight to again prove economical. While Deccan's approach, for the most part, remained restrained, a significant number of dot balls in the first six overs were failed attempts at the big shots.

The only convincing shot to the boundary was a straight six from Gilchrist off Ashwin, but Bollinger ended the misery with a double-strike in the sixth over. Gilchrist flicked straight to midwicket and T Suman, whose promotion to No.3 had triggered a turnaround in Deccan's fortunes this IPL, cut straight to point. The Powerplay yielded just 23, the second-lowest in the tournament, and it was only a matter of time before the frustration set in.

Rohit Sharma has often had to rescue Deccan from trouble, but he added to their woes by lofting Albie Morkel to long on with the field spread out. Equally dispiriting for Deccan was Gibbs' lack of conviction. Dropped from the team for his problems at the top, Gibbs had been recalled at the expense of an allrounder for his experience and game-changing ability. But the shortage in confidence was evident, for, in the wake of an escalating required-rate and the attacking field with a slip and leg slip in place, he struggled to pierce the in-field, particularly against spin. Several deliveries were defended either side of the pitch, interspersed with a streaky boundary, and his downfall came in the 11th over when he played on to Shadab Jakati.

The match was not over, with Andrew Symonds striking Jakati for consecutive fours in an over which fetched 17. But when he, in an act of desperation in the 16th over, slogged Ashwin to deep midwicket, Chennai were virtually through. Bollinger returned to nip out two more in his next spell and sealed Deccan's fate.

Dhoni's decision to bat on a testing pitch was prompted by his faith in the top order to handle the conditions, but it let him down despite being given chances. Matthew Hayden was dropped twice, Suresh Raina once, but those reprieves amounted for little as both fell in tame fashion to give Deccan the early edge. In between, M Vijay had played back to a full delivery to be caught plumb, and Chennai limped to 29 for 3.

Dhoni and Badrinath were cautious in their approach, but ensured the run-rate didn't slip. Badrinath dropped anchor and Dhoni, amid the spate of cuts, dabs and nudges, stepped up to find the boundary. Their partnership of 52 comprised just four boundaries, three of which were from Dhoni's bat. He smashed Harmeet Singh and RP Singh through the off side and charged to drive Pragyan Ojha down the ground. But another aggressive maneuver from Deccan, who fielded a slip for Harmeet's legcutters, earned them their fourth wicket as Dhoni slashed one straight to Rohit.

Badrinath did his best to prevent the innings from stagnating. He launched Ojha for a straight six and slugged Symonds over mid-on for a boundary before being stumped in the penultimate over.

Thanks to a combination of some power hitting and streaky batting, Chennai managed to score 46 off the last five overs. Anirudha, replacing Sudeep Tyagi, targeted RP and Harris to strike a couple of sixes to lift his team to 142 - a major recovery considering Deccan's meek reply, which left them hunting for consolation in Saturday's third-place playoff against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Match Meter

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DC
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Chances squandered: Catches off Hayden and Raina are dropped, but the batsmen fail to take advantage. Vijay, too, is dismissed; Chennai are 29 for 3.

* DC CSK
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A steady recovery: Dhoni and Badrinath add 52 in 51 balls, with just four fours. Tackling the difficult conditions well, they ensure a steady run-rate.

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DC
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Badrinath falls: Badrinath is stumped in the penultimate over, and is visibly upset. A score in excess of 140 appears unlikely.

* DC CSK
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The surge: Anirudha smashes two big sixes, one off RP and the other off Harris in the final over to take Chennai to a respectable score.

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CSK
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Slowness hurts: Gilchrist and Gibbs begin too slowly. Bollinger removes Gilchrist and Suman in the sixth over, Deccan limp to 23 in the Powerplay.

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CSK
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The final nail: At 82 for 5 in the 16th over, Deccan still have an outside chance but when Symonds is caught in the deep, there is no hope.

Advantage Honours even

Even as the key figures in the IPL mess continue their battles, federal income-tax and revenue officials have extended their operations into the most coordinated and high-profile exercise of recent times in India. The full might of the government machinery has been deployed from Chandigarh in the north to Chennai in the south, investigating franchises, rights holders and other entities and individuals - including top Bollywood stars - associated with the IPL.

The scale of the operation is staggering. The exercise is being coordinated by a director-general of vigilance in Mumbai heading a 24-hour investigating cell; those involved are officials of the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department - coming under the finance ministry - and officials of the Corporate Affairs ministry.

The investigations - covering a range of alleged infringements including money laundering, tax evasion, shell companies, black (illegal) money and misusing tax havens - appear to be an implementation of the finance minister's assurance to Parliament that the allegations would be thoroughly probed.

The day began with the taxmen raiding the offices of Multi Screen Media (MSM, formerly Sony Entertainment Television) and World Sports Group (WSG), the two firms that hold the TV broadcast rights to the IPL. The "surveys", as tax officials call them, were conducted in four different locations, including the home of the WSG's South Asia president, Venu Nair. In 2008, WSG bagged the TV rights for a ten-year period, with a $918 million bid and a promise to spend $108m on promoting the event. It had simultaneously signed a deal with MSM that Sony would be the official broadcaster. The contract was recast before IPL 2009, with MSM agreeing to pay $1.63 billion for nine years.

That contract - and specifically an alleged $80 million facilitation fee - is now believed to be the subject of investigation but WSG has denied allegations of impropriety. "Any allegation that World Sports Group has used any funds received in connection with its sub-licence of these rights for inappropriate or unlawful activities is completely unfounded and without substance," it said in a statement.

The rest of the day followed a familiar pattern. In Chandigarh, home to the Kings XI Punjab, a court summoned Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia and Mohit Burman, co-owners of the franchise, on July 23 in a case of missing balance sheets and accounts details.

In Kolkata, income tax officials visited the offices of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, located within the headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal at Eden Gardens and the offices of Gameplan, a sports management company associated with the franchise.

In Secunderabad, an IT team visited the office premises of Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures limited.

There was even a check in Chennai, where 40-odd officials turned up at the office of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings. India Cements is run by N Srinivasan, who is also the BCCI secretary.

And in Mumbai, IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi was questioned again at the Four Seasons Hotel where he's staying about a multi-million dollar contract for the broadcasting rights of IPL.

In New Delhi, the Enforcement Directorate registered a preliminary case against the IPL and its franchises to probe possible violations of foreign exchange rules and regulations. The case was registered under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act to investigate claims that huge funds have found their way into IPL from international tax havens.

The IPL controversy is threatening an ugly denouement with Lalit Modi, the embattled league chairman and commissioner, seemingly striking a defiant stand head of Monday's meeting of the governing council. This was evident in two emails made public today and accessed by Cricinfo; in one, Modi has questioned the validity of the meeting and warned he may not attend and in the other, also addressed to BCCI president Shashank Manohar, he has suggested the release of ownership details of all franchises.

The more provocative mail was today's letter, in which Modi sought a deferment of the April 26 meeting to May 1 on the grounds that he needed more time to prepare the agenda and the paperwork. But, he added, the April 26 meeting was invalid since it has been called by N Srinivasan, a member of the council only by virtue of being BCCI secretary, and hence he would skip it.

However, when contacted by Cricinfo, Srinivasan was unambiguous on the validity of the meeting. "I am the convenor of the governing council. It should take place", he said. Modi's line appeared equally clear. "If the meeting does go ahead on 26th April instead of 1st of May as I have asked it will deem to be unofficial," he wrote. ""...I do not propose to attend any unauthorised meeting."

He questioned Srinivasan's competence to call the meeting. "The IPL has been given the powers by the (BCCI) general body to hold their own meetings and I am sorry to say that the Hon. Secretary (BCCI) has never called a GC since inception or is the convener.

"All he is actually is an ex-officio member of the GC as an office bearer of BCCI and as he is a conflicted party who owns an IPL team. He has never and can never call a GC meeting."

Ownership structures

* Mumbai Indians
* Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd (RIIHL) - 98.3%
* Teesta Retail Pvt Ltd - 1.7%
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* Delhi Daredevils
* GMR Holdings Private Limited - 51%
* Mr. Srinivas Bommidala - 12%
* Mr GM Rao - 13%
* Mr GBS Raju - 12%
* Mr G Kiran Kumar - 12%
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* Deccan Chargers
* Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures Ltd - 100%

He explained the reason for seeking a postponement of the meeting. "...I just returned from Dubai last night and was attending the ICC meeting which you (Manohar) asked me to attend on your behalf...We had to move the matches from Bangalore and also we have the playoffs and awards. We are working 24x7 and as such have had no time to prepare or will have time to do so till post 26th."

The other mail chain dates from April 14, three days after Modi's original tweet revealing the Kochi franchise shareholding structure and a day after he received a reprimand from Manohar for it. It begins with a mail from Modi to "friends" - said to be 71 council members, officials and stakeholders - suggesting that "propriety and fair play demand" that the IPL release the names of all stake-holders.

"We should as public body disclose ownership details along with name of directors of all franchisees once again. Earlier we at the time of bidding only disclosed the names and share holding. If everyone is okay with this we will issue the same right away, that way all doubts and aspirations (sic) being cast on IPL franchises and members of GC [governing council] appropriately rebutted. I hope you all agree with the same."

The next day, the mail chain shows, there was a reply from Manohar. "The issue is complex and needs detailed deliberations and legal implications need to be gone into and hence can be considered at the GC meeting, where all documents and papers relating to the bids are available."

The implication is that Manohar and others who echoed his views in the mail chain were delaying the release of information that had been deemed questionable.

Manohar sought to scotch that viewpoint by repeating in an interview to PTI his original argument. "We received a mail from Mr Venugopal, one of the owners of the Kochi franchise, saying this was a breach of the confidentiality clause in the agreement which had been signed between BCCI and them and he further says they were contemplating legal action. Notice was sent to us on the night of the 11th of April," Manohar said.

"To wriggle out of the situation, Modi wrote a mail dated April 14, 2010 to me and members suggesting that all details regarding the franchisees be made public. I replied that the issue is complicated and needed detailed deliberations," he said.

"Modi in his Twitter posted details of the Kochi franchisee. On the basis of that the media pounced on him seeking to know to why he did not disclose details of the existing eight teams … The question is why Modi did not disclose this for three years when these eight team documents were available with him since 2007."

The heart of the matter is easy enough to locate. The Mumbai Indians, the only consistent team in this year's IPL, deserved to be in the final. Bangalore, who lost six of their last nine league games after starting so strongly, didn't. Bangalore never quite figured out what their strongest XI was, especially once Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor returned from international duty, and their sloppiness with both bat and ball eased Mumbai's path to the final.

As Anil Kumble was to say later, Bangalore did alright for two-thirds of the game. For 15 overs with the ball, they kept things under control, restricting a powerful line-up to just 107 runs, albeit on a pitch that was taking a fair bit of turn. Then, with the bat, they were well on course for nine overs. Two wickets in two balls though, and the game was pretty much up.

In truth, they should never have had to chase 185. When Pietersen finished a tidy spell by conceding just four in the 15th over, the pressure was on Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu, neither with any international experience, to inject some impetus into the innings. Tiwary rode his luck as 17 came from a Jacques Kallis over and the match was transformed when the miserly Kumble (1 for 13 from his first three overs) was taken for 17 in his final over punctuated by two no-balls.

Dale Steyn returned to dismiss Rayudu in a 10-run over, but both he and Vinay Kumar were then hapless onlookers as Kieron Pollard freed those rangy arms and justified Mumbai's spending on him at the auction earlier this year. Neither helped their cause by bowling full tosses or good-length deliveries to a man who clears the fence with ease even when he mishits the ball.

Afterwards, Zaheer Khan, who captained Mumbai after Sachin Tendulkar went off with a hand injury, was asked how a bowler could respond to the kind of assault that Pollard unleashed. "You need to bowl your yorkers," he said. "And you need to be very clear in your mind about what you want to do."

Chasing such a big total against such a well-balanced bowling attack was never going to be easy, but with Dravid holding up one end, Bangalore made a game of it till almost halfway. Pietersen was again outfoxed by Harbhajan Singh, but it was the dismissal of Robin Uthappa, caught in the deep off a slower ball from Pollard, that was really decisive.

Bangalore also lost because their Indian players faded as the season went on. Praveen Kumar and Vinay, who started the season strongly, didn't distinguish themselves in the later games, while Manish Pandey wilted after a promising first stint at the top of the order. Uthappa's consistency and big hitting was a huge bonus, as Kumble was to acknowledge later, but the others didn't chip in enough when it mattered.

They now have a third place play-off and the possible consolation of a Champions League berth to contemplate. For a sweat-soaked Kumble, it was no consolation at all. "Every defeat hurts," he said. "We are professionals. Maybe some of the other players have other things to look forward to. But I no longer play international cricket. This is all I have. I still haven't got over losing in the final last year. This one will also take some time."

His team-mate of 18 years now faces an anxious wait to know if he'll be fit for the final. For much of the tournament, Sachin Tendulkar's runs piloted Mumbai's challenge. Today, with next to no contribution from him, the others proved that they're far from being a one-man show. Tiwary and Rayudu have both made huge strides during the course of this competition, and the fact that they didn't crumble under the pressure of a knockout situation augurs well for the future.

Both Sri Lankan pace bowlers did exceptionally well, but it was Pollard with his languid movements and awesome power that was the star of the show. They'll take some stopping in the final, no matter which team they face.

Everything changed in the last five overs of the Mumbai Indians' innings. The game was in a deadlock at the end of 15 overs with Mumbai on 107 for 4 - some might have even felt that Royal Challengers Bangalore held the edge - but things took a dramatic turn from there on. Saurabh Tiwary hit an enterprising half-century and Kieron Pollard played a delightful cameo to charge Mumbai to 184 for 5 at the DY Patil Stadium. It was a bridge too far even for the batting-heavy Bangalore and they never really threatened to get anywhere close to the target. The 35-run win took Mumbai to the final, and sealed their qualification for the Champions League Twenty20 to be held in September.

It was always going to be a difficult chase and things got really tough for Bangalore in the tenth over with the fall of Robin Uthappa and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries. Bangalore had reached 80 for 2 from nine overs and had already lost Kevin Pietersen to a smart leg-side stumping by Ambati Rayudu off Harbhajan Singh; they then suffered the twin blows that effectively killed the contest. Uthappa was in hot form, collecting 18 runs from Harbhajan's over with the help of two thumping sixes, but he dragged a slower one from Pollard straight to deep midwicket.

Before Bangalore could recover from that asphyxiating blow, they lost Dravid, who had played a fluent knock, to a run-out resulting from a misunderstanding with Ross Taylor. Pollard removed both Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey and though Taylor hung around for a while, he couldn't produce any miracle tonight. Bangalore were left to rue their ordinary effort in the field in the last five overs where they lost the game.

The game actually changed in character twice during Mumbai's innings: first after the first time-out was taken at the end of seven overs, and second from the 15th over onwards. Mumbai had recovered after the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar, courtesy an impish knock from Rayudu who counter-attacked initially before settling down, to reach 62 for 2 in seven overs, but were gradually choked by the slower bowlers. In the next six overs, before the second time-out was taken, only 31 runs came with the addition of two wickets.

Things looked desperate for Mumbai but Tiwary looted 17 runs from the 16th over bowled by Jacques Kallis to turn things around. The first delivery, a slower one, was swung over the midwicket boundary; the fourth was bludgeoned to midwicket for a four; and the fifth ran away to fine-leg boundary via an inside-edge. Mumbai had broken free and continued to indulge themselves in the end overs.

Anil Kumble, who, before then, had combined well with Pietersen, handed back the initiative as he conceded 17 runs in the 17th over. It was Tiwary, again, who did the damage. He made use of a freehit to collect a boundary to backward square-leg before flat-batting a six to the straight boundary, as Kumble's visage grew angrier. It was the image of the night.

Pollard joined in the fun right in the end, with his big lofted drives, to further boost Mumbai. Pollard pinged the long-off boundary with two sixes against Vinay Kumar and slugged Dale Steyn over long-on for another six as Mumbai finished off in style. And so, after 41 days of non-stop action, Mumbai entered their first final in the three years of IPL.

Match Meter

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RCB
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Tendulkar falls: Tendulkar stretches too far across but fails to cover an outswinger from Steyn and offers an easy catch to cover in the second over.

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MI
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Kallis leaks runs: Mumbai are 107 for 4 in 15 overs, but Tiwary loots 17 runs from the next over bowled by Kallis to turn things around.

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MI
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Kumble loses control : Kumble bowls a no-ball and gives a free hit which is put away by Tiwary, who capitalises further with a flat-batted six in the 17th over.

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MI
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Pietersen stumped: Pietersen charges out to loft Harbhajan in the seventh over, misses and Rayudu completes an excellent leg-side stumping.

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MI
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Uthappa exits: So much depended on Uthappa but he can't produce his magic tonight. He holes out to deep midwicket and with him Bangalore's hopes end.

Advantage Honours even

The controversy over the sale of the IPL Kochi franchise has claimed its first victim, with India's junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor resigning over allegations of a conflict of interest in his mentoring the consortium through the successful bid. Earlier in the day Sunanda Pushkar, Tharoor's close friend whose 4.7% "free equity" stake in the franchise had become the source of the controversy, said she had offered to give up her holding.

"It's a voluntary resignation. I don't want to embarrass the party. I want parliament proceedings to go on, hence I have decided to resign," Tharoor said in his letter. A statement from the Prime Minister's office said the resignation had been forwarded to the President "with a recommendation that it be accepted".

Pushkar's offer to give up her share in the franchise - seen as an attempt to save Tharoor - was revealed in the evening, a few hours before Tharoor's resignation. "Given the deeply unpleasant publicity surrounding my involvement, I can no longer find the enthusiasm required to associate myself with any IPL activity in the future," Pushkar said in a statement. "I therefore voluntarily offer to return to Rendezous the sweat equity they offered me. I do not wish to ask for compensation for my services rendered to them."

The decision, Pushkar's lawyer said, was made on Saturday. On Sunday, Tharoor, a member of the ruling Congress party, met with the Indian prime minister amid speculation over whether he would resign from his post as junior minister for foreign affairs because of the controversy about whether Pushkar was acting as a proxy for him, a charge Tharoor had denied. Tharoor tendered his resignation late on Sunday and it was accepted by the prime minister.

Pushkar had also denied she was acting as a proxy for Tharoor and said the Rendezvous Group had given her equity as payment for her marketing expertise and her help in putting the bid together. Tharoor, however, was criticised, by the opposition party among others, for not revealing his link to Pushkar earlier.

The controversy over the ownership of the Kochi franchise became public after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed the composition of its stake holders on his Twitter account. According to his posts, the Kochi consortium break-up was: Rendezvous Sports 1%, Anchor 27%, Parinee [Developers] 26%, Film Waves Combine 12%, Anand Shyam 8%, Vivek Venugopal 1% with Rendezvous having an additional 25% free equity. That equity is held by Kisan, Shailender and Pushpa Gaikwad, Sunanda Pushkar, Puja Gulathi, Jayant Kotalwar, Vishnu Prasad, Sundip Agarwal.