The 2010 Indian Premier League final was a day/night Twenty20 cricket match played between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians on 25 April 2010 at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai to determine the winner of the 2010 Indian Premier League, an annual professional Twenty20 cricket league in India. It ended as the Super Kings defeated the Indians by 22 runs.
The Indians, captained by Sachin Tendulkar, topped the group stage table with 10 wins in 14 matches, whereas the Super Kings, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, stood at the third position with seven wins in 14. They had defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers respectively in the semi-finals.
Mumbai Indians qualified for the first time in their Indian Premier League history while it was the second time for Chennai Super Kings in three years. Super Kings qualified for the final at 2008 Indian Premier League where they lost to Rajasthan Royals by three wickets in a last ball thriller.
Route to the Final
Group stage
The Super Kings' campaign started with a loss against the defending champion Deccan Chargers. They went on to win their next two matches against Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils respectively, but then lost four consecutive matches against Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers, Indians and Rajasthan Royals. Though the loss against Kings XI came in a Super-Over after the match ended in a tie. From then they went on to win three consecutive matches against Royal Challengers, Indians and Royals, but they again lost to Chargers at their next match. However they won two of their last three matches including their last match of group stage which led them to the knockout stage.
While on the other hand campaign for Mumbai Indians was like a bed of roses. They won seven out of their first with the only defeat coming in their third match against the Royal Challengers. But after this start they won three and lost three of their last six matches. However 20 points from 10 wins in 14 matches were more than enough for them to be the points table topper as their closest team at the points table, Deccan Chargers had 16 points in their bag.
The two teams faced each other in two matches of the group stage, Indians and Super Kings won one each. Both the Super Kings and Indians played at the DY Patil Stadium for the first time in the finals.
Note: The points at the end of each group match are listed. Note: Click on the points to see the summary for the match.
Semi-final
The Indians played the fourth placed team Royal Challengers in the first semi-final. The Indians won the toss and decided to bat first. The Indians didn't have a good opening partnership. Opener and skipper Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed at 11 runs. The other opener Shikhar Dhawan got out at 29. But middle order batsmen Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu scored 52 and 40 respectively. Lower order batsman Kieron Pollard scored an unbeaten cameo of 33 from 13 balls to take the score to 184 for 5 in 20 overs. Dale Steyn took two wickets for 43 runs. In reply Royal Challengers were never comfortable in chasing down Indians' 184. They lost wickets in regular break and could finally score 149 for 9 wickets falling short by 35 runs. Ross Taylor scored the highest 31 runs for the Royal Challengers. Kieron Pollard took three wickets for 17 runs. Mumbai won the match by 35 runs and qualified for the final while Royal Challengers were eliminated from the tournament as a result of this match. Royal Challengers also got a place in the third-place playoff match. Kieron Pollard was named the man of the match.