Harbhajan Singh (28) and Abhishek Nayar’s (45 not out) spectacular rearguard action had the Mumbai side needing 19 off the last over when Dhoni tossed the ball to Joginder.

The bowler conceded two fours in a row and bowled a no-ball as well. But he kept his cool in the end and kept it tight as the Mumbai Indians eventually finished on 202 for seven.

Earlier, man of the match Matthew Hayden blasted 81 and featured in a century stand with Suresh Raina (53) as the Super Kings amassed 208 for five.

With a 46-ball knock studded with 12 fours and two sixes, Hayden again proved a thorn in the side for Harbhajan, who again led the Mumbai side in the injury-enforced absence of regular captain Sachin Tendulkar.

Put in, the Super Kings got off to a rollicking start with Parthiv Patel (14) and Hayden putting on 34 in the first three overs.

Hayden and Raina then scored briskly. Raina smote Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan and Nayar over the ropes to keep pace with Hayden, who was his aggressive self.

The duo put on 104 in 62 deliveries before Raina holed out to Bravo after a 37-ball knock that included three sixes and as many boundaries.

Hayden, however, maintained the momentum and Dhoni (30) chipped in with a 16-ball cameo to take the side past the 200-mark.

Mumbai looked in dire straits with its top-order firing blanks. The Abhishek-Harbhajan duo, however, refused to give up and waged a grim battle.

They stuttered early in the chase with Luke Ronchi (2) falling cheaply and Sanath Jayasuriya (20) departing just when he was looking dangerous.

Robin Uthappa (43) took the Chennai attack by the scruff of the neck and milked 19 runs from a Jacob Oram over to spice things up. Mumbai seemed back on the track but Joginder retained his penchant to rise on the occasion and castled Uthappa to deal a deadly blow. Uthappa’s 36-ball knock included six fours and a six.

Shaun Pollock (17) to sizzled for a while and so did Bravo (24). With the asking run rate skyrocketing, Harbhajan and Abhishek threw their bats at everything, resulting in some lusty hitting, but it was too late by then.

SCOREBOARD

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Parthiv Patel c Ronchi b Nehra 14, Matthew Hayden (run out) 81, Mike Hussey b Kulkarni 5, Suresh Raina c Bravo b Khote 53, Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Bravo b Khote 30, Jacob Oram (not out) 5, S Badrinath (not out) 2. Extras (B-4, LB-3, W-9, NB-2) 18. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 208.
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-39, 3-143, 4-194, 5-206.

Bowling: Shaun Pollock 3-0-32-0, Ashish Nehra 4-0-35-1, Dhawal Kulkarni 3-0-25-1, Harbhajan Singh 2-0-14-0, Dwayne Bravo 3-0-36-0, Vikrant Yeligati 1-0-16-0, Abhishek Nayar 1-0-14-0, Musavir Khote 3-0-29-2.

MUMBAI INDIANS: Luke Ronchi (run out) 2; Sanath Jayasuriya c Joginder b Gony 20, Robin Uthappa b Joginder 43, Shaun Pollock b Amarnath 17, Dwayne Bravo c Oram b Joginder 24, Abhishek Nayar (not out) 45, Musavir Khote c Raina b Muralitharan 9, Harbhajan Singh c Badrinath b Muralitharan 28, Ashish Nehra (not out) 1. Extras (LB-5, W-6, NB-2) 13. Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 202.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-30, 3-81, 4-97, 5-130, 6-141, 7-189.

Bowling: Jacob Oram 4-0-53-0, Manpreet Gony 4-1-18-1, Joginder Sharma 4-0-29-2, Palani Amarnath 4-0-57-1, Muttiah Muralitharan 4-0-40-2.