The enormously talented Suryakumar Yadav played one of his finest knocks on a challenging track as Mumbai Indians (MI) beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets in the first Qualifier, entering IPL final for the fifth time on Tuesday.

Chasing a modest target of 132, MI got off to a poor start as both their openers Rohit Sharma (4 off 2) and Quinton de Kock (8 off 12) fell inside four overs. But Suryakumar Yadav (71 unbeaten off 54) and Ishan Kishan (28 off 31) attacked the bowlers early on in their innings and batted sensibly.

Both batsmen stitched the highest partnership of the match. Imran Tahir took two wickets off two balls to give CSK fans some hope but it came a tad too late.

Earlier, CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat. CSK didn’t get the start they wanted as Faf du Plesis, Suresh Raina and Shane Watson were back in pavilion by the inside powerplay with just 32 runs on the scoreboard.

Murali Vijay (26 off 26 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (42 off 37 balls) carried the baton for CSK and scored 33 runs together. Vijay was deceived by a brilliant Rahul Chahar delivery in the 13th over. Next in, CSK skipper Dhoni came to bat with positive mind-set and played his natural shots on a difficult track. He was well-supported by Rayudu who also played some good shots.

Dhoni showed his class by hitting Lasith Malinga for back-to-back sixes in the 19th over.

MI finished strongly as Jasprit Bumrah bowled a brilliant last over, conceding just nine runs, despite bowling a no-ball on which Dhoni got out.