Chasing a modest target of 166, Mumbai were cruising along before Tendulkar retired due to dehydration in the ninth over after making a 28-ball 36 which contained six fours.
But once he left, Mumbai, who were on 62 for one at that point, lost way with wickets falling like nine pins. Though Tendulkar returned to add nine more runs to his total, Mumbai could make just 141 for nine in 20 overs as their five-match winning streak was snapped at the packed M A Chidambaram Stadium.
Chennai produced a superb bowling and fielding display and turned on the heat on the Mumbai Indians once Tendulkar left the field under hot conditions.
All the CSK bowlers took wickets with Thilan Thushara and Ramachandran Ashwin being the most successful with two wickets apiece, conceding 16 and 22 runs respectively. Sudeep Tyagi, Doug Bollinger, Shadab Jakati and Suresh Raina chipped in with a wicket each.
Their fielding was also spot on with some fine catches, especially those of Thilan Thusara and Murali Vijay, putting pressure on the Mumbai batting.
Earlier, electing to bat, Chennai made 165 for four with Matthew Hayden top-scoring with a 31-ball 35, while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (31, 18 balls) and S Badrinath (30 not out, 22 balls) made useful contributions.
With the win, their third on the trot, CSK are now on fourth spot with 10 points from 10 matches while Mumbai retained the top spot with 14 points from nine matches.
Except for 45 by Tendulkar and a late flourish by Harbhajan Singh (33), the remaining Mumbai batsmen came a cropper with five of them failing to reach double figures.
From 62 for one when Tendulkar left at the end of ninth over and till he returned to face the third ball of the 15th over after his side was 89 for seven, Mumbai lost six wickets in 5.3 overs with the addition of just of 27 runs. Raina was named man of the match.
Discipined effort
Earlier, Mumbai Indians produced a disciplined bowling and fielding performance to restrict Chennai Super Kings to 165 for four.
Most of the Chennai batsmen got starts but failed to convert them to big scores. Mumbai bowlers got support from their fielders who did some fine work to deny runs to CSK batsmen.
Chennai made a subdued start and last-match centurion Murali Vijay was back in the pavilion by the fourth over as he dragged a Harbhajan Singh delivery on to his stumps for 14.
Hayden was unusually quiet as the Mumbai bowlers did not give him chances to swing his bat and that meant Chennai were 35 for one at the end of fifth over.
The home side picked up the tempo with one-down Suresh Raina forcing the pace. He hoisted Dwayne Bravo for a huge six in the ninth over but perished two balls later holing out to Shikhar Dhawan at deep midwicket for a 18-ball 23.
After the halfway mark, Chennai were 85 for two and with wickets in hand they looked set for a bigger total only to be pegged back by two wickets in two balls from bowler Kieron Pollard.
Dhoni, who came in at the fall of Raina, raised the scoring rate with some lusty blows but he was the third man to go as he mistimed a slow ball from Pollard who took a return catch. Dhoni’s 18-ball innings contained four boundaries.
Next ball, Hayden’s uneventful innings ended as R Sathish took an easy catch at the long on to reduce the home side to 119 for four at the end of 14th over. Hayden’s 35 came form 31 balls with the help of just two fours and a six.
Badrinath, who denied Pollard a hat-trict, and Australian Michael Hussey (15-ball 14), playing in his first IPL III match, failed to provide the final thrust, adding just 41 runs from the last five overs.
Pollard, who has not done much with the bat contrary to expectations, was the most successful Mumbai bowler with two wickets for 27 runs from his four overs. Bravo and Harbhajan took a wicket each.
SCORE BOARD
Chennai Super Kings: Murali Vijay b Harbhajan 14; Matthew Hayden c Satish b Pollard 35; Suresh Raina c Dhawan b Bravo 23; Dhoni c & b Pollard 31; Michael Hussey (not out) 14; S Badrinath (not out) 30. Extras: (B-1, LB-1, W-15, Nb-1) 18. Total: (For 4 wkts in 20 overs) 165.
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-69, 3-119, 4-119. Bowling: Ryan Mclaren 3-0-25-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-23-1, Lasith Malinga 4-0-36-0, Abu Nechim Ahmed 2-0-36-0, Dwayne Bravo 2-0-21-1, Kieron Pollard 4-0-27-2, R Sathish 1-0-5-0.
MUMBAI INDIANS: Shikhar Dhawan b Thushara 16; Sachin Tendulkar c Vijay b Thushara 45; Saurabh Tiwary c Hayden b Jakati 14; Ambati Rayudu st Dhoni b Raina 3; Dwayne Bravo C Thushara b Tyagi 2; Kieron Pollard c Vijay b Ashwin 5; R Sathish (run out) 4; Ryan McLaren lbw Ashwin 1; Harbhajan Singh b Bollinger 33; Abu Ahmed (not out) 4. Extras (LB-5, W-7, NB-2) 14. Total (for nine wickets, 20 overs) 141.
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-66, 3-69, 4-82, 5-86, 6-89, 7-89, 8-105, 9-141.
Bowling: Sudip Tyagi 3-0-20-1; Doug Bollinger 4-0-39-1; R Ashwin 4-0-22-2; Thilan Thushara 2.3-0-16-2; Shadab Jakati 4-0-27-1; Suresh Raina 2.3-0-12-1.
