Suryakumar Yadav's 71 off 54 balls and Rahul Chahar's two wickets off just 14 runs shaped the game in favour of Mumbai Indians which eventually helped them upstage Chennai Super Kings by six wickets at Chepauk Stadium. Opting to bat, Chennai Super Kings lost their way early as they lost three wickets for a mere 32 runs on the board. 

Post this, Ambati Rayudu and Murali Vijay tried to repair the innings as they strung a partnership of 33 runs. Once Vijay departed, Dhoni tried to press the accelerator and eventually helped his side finish with 131 runs on the board in their quota of 20 overs. 

While chasing, Mumbai lost their openers early, but Suryakumar Yadav held his nerve and batted through the innings to get his team over the finish line. With this win, Mumbai Indians are through to the finals. They will now play the winner of Qualifier 2.

Let's look at the factors which helped Mumbai Indians become the first of two teams to qualify for the all-important final:

1. Spinners tore through Chennai Super Kings top-order

After opting to bat first, Chennai Super Kings didn't get to the best start. Rahul Chahar snaffled Faf du Plessis while Jayant Yadav got the better of Suresh Raina. They slumped to 32/3 soon with Shane Watson getting out to Krunal Pandya and things looked extremely tough at that stage for the home team. However, Ambati Rayudu and Murali Vijay steadied things with a 33-run stand.

Just when CSK looked equipped to take the attacking stance, Vijay was stumped off Chahar's bowling. MS Dhoni arrived, and the run-scoring pace increased. But Mumbai Indians were too good. Barring two huge sixes off Lasith Malinga, even Dhoni couldn't do much. Chennai finished on 131 runs for the loss of four wickets, and the score seemed to be 10-20 runs short after 20 overs.

2. Murali Vijay dropped Suryakumar Yadav on 11

In the chase, Mumbai Indians lost Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock cheaply and the onus to get things back on track was on Suryakumar Yadav. And Chennai, while defending a low score was an inch closer to sending Surya early in the innings but failed.

It was when Suryakumar was batting on 11 that his mistimed cross-batted shot found Murali Vijay at mid-on off Deepak Chahar's bowling. Vijay was a second late in reacting, but he did well to get both hands to the ball, but to the dismay of the CSK fielders, the ball somehow burst through his palms and raced away to the boundary.

The drop proved to be the 'turning point' of the match as Suryakumar not only went to score his seventh IPL fifty but also strung a crucial 80-run third wicket partnership with Ishan Kishan, who was dismissed for 28. The Kishan and Suryakumar partnership put MI on the driver's seat as they comprehensively managed to beat the men-in-yellow.