Mumbai bagged 29 runs in final over, thanks to Pandya’s eight-ball 25-run blitzkrieg bringing the high-flying Dhoni-led Chennai to earth. Apart from this, Pandya also proved his worth with the ball by taking three wickets to power his squad to a superb victory.
While Pandya dedicated the award-winning (man of the match) performance to those who stood by him, he termed the last seven months the toughest of his life "when I didn't know what to do".
"It feels pretty good to help the team to win and contribute. It's been seven months that I've hardly played games. They weren't easy and I didn't know what to do. I've just batted and batted. I want to improve my game every day. It's a fantastic feeling batting like that and making your team win."
The India all-rounder got embroiled in a controversy after his outrage-evoking comments on women in a chat show earlier this year. But he has overcome that now.
"I was out with injury and then some other controversy happened. I want to dedicate this Man of the Match to my family and friends, who stood with me in the toughest times.
"Now my only focus is to play IPL and make sure India wins the World Cup," Hardik said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni felt many "things went wrong" for his side.
"We started well, were right on the mark for the first 10-12 overs. Then, a few catches were dropped, a few misfields, the death over bowling wasn't great. We don't have bowlers who hit the deck, it was slightly tough on them."