Chennai Super Kings 187-5 (MS Dhoni 51*, Michael Hussey 49, Dhawal Kulkarni 3-46) beat Mumbai Indians 149-9 (Dwayne Smith 38, Lasith Malinga 17, Dwayne Bravo 2-10) by 38 runs.

MS Dhoni played a majestic knock, amassed 73 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket in 29 balls with Dwayne Bravo and humiliated Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator.

Chennai Super Kings blasted 187 runs with five wickets in hand at the end of the scheduled 20 overs. Mumbai Indians had good start but struggled later on throughout their innings and scored 149 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.

MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his blistering unbeaten innings of 51 from 20 mere balls.

The Elimination match of the Indian Premier League 2012 was played on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Earlier, the captain of Mumbai Indians, Harbhajan Singh, won the toss and opted to bowl first .He got the immediate reward when Chennai Super Kings lost their two key batsmen Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina for just one run in 1.2 overs as Dhawal Kulkarni struck twice in the second over. Subramaniam Badrinath joined in next with Michael Hussey as the first got two fours in the fourth over and the latter followed him with the same result in the next over.

Badrinath was the most aggressive of the two and sent the ball out of the fence many times as compared to Hussey. They gathered 19 runs in the 11^th over off Harbhajan Singh with a couple of sixes and one four and enhanced the score to 95 in 13.2 overs. Subramaniam Badrinath lost his wicket for 47 off 39 balls with 1 six and 6 fours and 11 runs later Michael Hussey also went back to the pavilion after scoring 49 from 39 deliveries with one six and eight fours.

Chennai Super Kings were at the receiving end at 114-5 in 15.1 overs when the skipper MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo took over and lifted the game for their side. Dhoni started of the attack by dispatching three consecutive fours in the 16^th over and they gathered another 13 runs in the following over. The duo hammered 37 runs in the last two overs with three sixes and a couple of fours.

Dhoni played an outstanding knock of unbeaten 51 off just 20 balls with 2 timely sixes and 6 fours. Dwayne Bravo secured his end for 33 off 14 balls with 2 huge sixes and 3 fours as Chennai Super Kings piled up 187 runs for the loss of five wickets at the end of the 20overs.

Dhawal Kulkarni was the most successful bowler with three wickets whereas Kieron Pollard and James Franklin held one wicket each.

Mumbai Indians initiated the innings in style as Dwayne Smith gathered 17 runs in the two overs with two fours and one six and Sachin Tendulkar scored his first four in the third over. Smith punished Ben Hilfenhaus for 14 runs in the next over which comprised a couple of fours and one six. They took the score to 47 in five overs when Tendulkar was unluckily run out for 11 runs and Smith followed him 8 runs later for 38 off 22 balls with 2 sixes and 5 fours.

Albie Morkal was introduced in the 9^th over by MS Dhoni and he got a breakthrough on the very first ball when Dinesh Karthik was caught behind by the skipper for 6 runs. Morkel struck again in his next over as Rohit Sharma was gone in an identical fashion of Karthik for 14 runs and Mumbai Indians were reeling at 77-4 in 10.1 overs. The bowlers of Chennai Super Kings took over and no real resistance was shown from the late order batsmen. They managed 149 runs with just one wicket in hand at the end of their required quota of overs.

Albie Morkel and Dwayne Bravo were the main wicket takers with two wickets each as Shadab Jakati, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja claimed one wicket each.

Chennai Super Kings won the match comprehensively by a good margin of 38 runs and they will face Delhi Daredevils in the 2^nd Qualifying match on May 25, 2012 at Chennai.