Dhoni praises team's fighting spirit

Super Kings beat favourites Mumbai Indians by 22 runs in a thrilling final at the D.Y.Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. "Credit goes to the team, we were under pressure in the middle of the tournament. I am excited to lift the trophy. We were happy with the total, the Mumbai wicket supports the seamers and Bollinger did well early, Ashwin has been doing a superb job with the new ball. We were able to create the kind of pressure to get wickets," a beaming Dhoni said.

"The IPL gets better and better, the benchmark keeps rising each year. The players will sweat more because of extra teams next year, the pressure will be on the office-bearers to make it further big." Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar, who braved five stitches on his right hand to play in the finals lamented a few dropped catches but called it a "terrific" journey as the team reached its first final in three editions.

"A couple of important catches cost us, the start also was slow, we could have accelerated a little bit more, it was just one of those tough days, Towards the end, Pollard came but it was a bit too late," said Tendulkar who was the highest scorer in the tournament with 618 runs. "It's been a terrific journey, it's been an honour to be part of the Mumbai Indians,  It's been a special tournament for us, barring the loss. Most likely I'll be playing next year as well. Chennai played better than us, congratulations to them."