Sunday’s Indian Premier League final in Hyderabad produced a winner by the thinnest of victory margins in its 10-year history. The thrilling one-run triumph over the aspiring Rising Pune Supergiant gave Mumbai Indians their third crown and also made it a hat-trick of titles for captain Rohit Sharma, who was also a part of the victorious Deccan Chargers back in 2009 when Australian great Adam Gilchrist had led the now defunct franchise to victory in the IPL’s second edition. Fortunes swung to and fro in the low-scoring finale as Mumbai had a mere 129 to defend.
At the outset, it seemed that the Steven-Smith led Pune would continue to maintain their upper hand over their ‘Maha Derby’ rivals in a manner they had been doing in the league phase and also in the Qualifier 1 where Mumbai had failed to win any of their three meetings this season.
Even the finals seemed to be heading that way as Pune appeared on course to winning their maiden IPL title in only their second appearance in the league. Smith’s maiden charge as IPL skipper seemed all set for a Super Sunday celebration with Mumbai staring at their fourth loss against an opponent who had made them their bunny. However, all that was destined to change in a matter of overs during the final phase of Pune’s run-chase as magnificent death bowling saw Mumbai Indians turn the tide in their favour at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
The match was heading towards a tense finish with RPS, who needed 11 to win off the final over, buckled as former Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson snagged two successive wickets, including a dangerous Smith on 51. When 7 runs were needed off 4 balls it looked like RPS will seal it in their favour. That was the moment when the camera was panned towards an ‘aunty’ who was seen lost in prayer in the Mumbai Indians’ stand. Within minutes her photo went viral and Twitterati named her ‘Prayer Aunty’. Finally, Mumbai won the thrilling final by just one run and inscribed their name on IPL trophy. Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan took to micro-blogging site Twitter to reveal the identity of the ‘Prayer aunty’. “That is Mrs. Ambani’s mother. Popularly referred to as “nani”. The lucky charm,” junior Bachchan wrote on his Twitter handle.
Johnson turned out to be the most successful bowler for Mumbai with figures of 3/26, while young pacer Jasprit Bumrah also played a crucial role, returning with figures of 26/2 in his four overs. For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it was yet another final that ended in a defeat - fifth in seven summit clashes.
