1. The Toss
On a wicket that was tipped to die out and make stroke-making ever more difficult, Mahendra Dhoni won the toss and had no hesitation in having a bat first up with his top order delivering in a solid total of 168, the highest in three IPL finals.

Despite the brave efforts of the injured Sachin Tendulkar and the heroics of Kieron Pollard, the lack of life in the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy pitch meant that runs were just too hard to come by in the early stages and the home side's chances of victory drowned in the pressure of a disciplined Super Kings bowling performance.

2. Raina Dropped
Suresh Raina was the star man in the Chennai innings, powering them to a useful total. However it could have all been so different for the Super Kings' top run-scorer but for the comedy of the 15th over.

Zaheer Khan drew a loose stroke out of Raina, finding the top edge as the ball flew skywards with Dilhara Fernando and Abhishek Nayar converging. Neither was too excited about taking the chance and with both fielders shouting 'yours' the ball landed harmlessly between the pair, much to the disgust of skipper Tendulkar and bowler Khan.

The next three deliveries to the same batsman were duly dispatched for two, then four, then six as he inflicted immediate pain on Mumbai. To make matters worse Zaheer then dropped the self-same Raina in the very next over with the batsman making the most of his good fortune to finish on 57 not out.

3. Jakati's Third Over
Jakati was targeted by the home side as the bowler to get after and was duly clubbed for 21 off his first two overs. However given a third by his captain Jakati repaid the faith by snaring the Little Master into being caught on the boundary for 48. Two balls later Raina produced a superb diving catch in the deep to get rid of new man Saurabh Tiwary.

Probably the most significant aspect of the Jakati over was the absence of one Kieron Pollard. Despite being given two opportunities to send the potent West Indian out into the middle Mumbai instead chose Tiwary and then JP Duminy with just over five overs to play. Pollard did make an appearance with 55 required off 18 and for a brief moment gave the home fans a hint of hope, prompting the obvious question - why did the big man not come in sooner?

4. Bollinger's Bashing
Doug Bollinger is not someone who easily attracts sympathy, but even Merv Hughes himself would have been feeling sorry for dear Doug in the face of Pollard's onslaught.

Pollard was new to the crease but it made no difference in a butchering of 22 runs off the third-last over to suddenly give Mumbai a chance with two overs to play.

5. Morkel's Nerves Of Steel
Albie Morkel holds the unwanted record of conceding the most runs in one spell in IPL Three and many a Chennai fan would have been questioning Dhoni as the South African, with Pollard looming large, was thrown the ball for the penultimate over.

A single, followed by an ominous boundary from the West Indian looked to have been continuing an incredible turn around.
However a peach of a slower third delivery drew a dot ball. In the wake of the panic caused by ther first dot ball of Pollard's innings the batsman combined to have Srikkanth Rayudu run out.

Pollard, still shocked, then hit the following ball down Matthew Hayden's throat at Dhoni-inspired straight mid-off position to all but end the contest.