Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Michael Hussey on Saturday said his team needs to be in top form and at its best to beat an in-form Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
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CSK reached the final of the IPL for the sixth time after they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by three wickets in the qualifier 2 of the T20 tournament at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
“MI are a great team and have been playing some really good cricket. So we are going to have to be at our best. We have to look to just start the game well and hopefully our confidence will grow from there,” Hussey said.
“I am hoping it sort of works out like 2013 where we beat Mumbai Indians in the first Qualifier to go straight to the final and then lost to them in the final. This time we lost to them in the Qualifier and hopefully can turn the tables on them in the final.”
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His 56 off 46 balls was the reason CSK could chase down RCB’s tricky target of 140 on a difficult Ranchi pitch in Qualifier 2.
With the team in grave danger at 61 for 3 in the 10th over, it was left-hander and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who joined hands to keep the boat from sinking.
“It was just about making sure we build a partnership and try to be really busy. It was a difficult wicket to hit on; we had to run really hard between the wickets, constantly look for ones and twos and get the odd boundary away,” the Australian said.
“It wasn’t a big total to chase, so we knew if we just kept the positive intent going and take it close, a couple of big ones in the end would get us home,” the 39-year-old said.