The Mumbai captain continued his good run of form with the bat, as he made 72 from 52 deliveries, hitting eight boundaries and a six, to guide his team to victory before falling in the final over.
Mumbai cruised to 184 for five in 19 overs to win by five wickets with an over to spare to jump to the top of the IPL standings.
Shikhar Dhawan had given Mumbai a flying start as he smashed 56 from 34 balls, hitting five boundaries and three sixes. Muralitharan took two for 32 in his four overs but Mumbai chased down the target quite easily with Tendulkar holding one end up.
Earlier, Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath hit unbeaten half-centuries to power Chennai Super Kings to 180 for two in their 20 overs after they were put into bat.
Raina slammed 83 from 52 balls, having hit seven boundaries and three sixes, while Badrinath made 55 from 45 balls (6 fours) as the duo were involved in an unbroken stand of 142 runs in 91 deliveries for the third wicket, the second highest partnership in IPL.
Harbhajan was once again the best bowler for Mumbai as he took one for 25 in four tight overs and Ryan McLaren took one for 23.
Harbhajan gave Mumbai an early breakthrough when he trapped Matthew Hayden leg before wicket for 20 from 12. His opening partner Parthiv Patel joined him in the dugout soon after when he was bowled by McLaren for eight.
Chennai Super Kings:
Matthew Hayden went after Zaheer Khan in the second over as he hit four boundaries in a row. The first four was a thick edge to thirdman followed by two more over the off-side cordon while the fourth narrowly missed the bowler before crashing into the long-off boundary.
Parthiv Patel flicked McLaren over midwicket for his first boundary as Chennai raced to 31 from three overs.
Hayden called on for the mini Mongoose in the fourth over but it didn't last long when Harbhajan Singh trapped him leg before wicket with the quicker delivery. The bat failed to come down in time as Hayden was struck right in front of the stumps after scoring 20 from 12 balls.
Patel also didn't last long when he flicked a full toss from Ryan McLaren on to his pads before it went back into the stumps to bowl him for eight as Chennai were reduced to 38 for two after five overs.
Suresh Raina ensured Mumbai didn't lose the momentum when he flicked a full delivery from Dwayne Bravo for a six over square leg. The left-hander followed that with a splendid cover drive for a boundary piercing the gap to perfection reducing the ring of fielders on the off-side to mere spectators.
Raina went after Bravo again, in his third over, when he hit the medium pacer for a six over midwicket and boundary through point to reach 44 from 25 balls and take Chennai to 85 for two after ten overs.
At the other end, S Badrinath was content to play second fiddle to Raina. He got his first boundary off the 13th ball he faced when he tried to pull Lasith Malinga but got an edge that went into the boundary behind the wickets, in the 11th over.
Having found his footing, Badrinath also looked to lift his scoring rate with boundaries in successive overs to move to 26 from as many deliveries.
Once again Harbhajan kept things tight from his end, taking one for 25 in four overs, as Chennai reached 126 for two after 15 overs.
Except for Harbhajan, who took one for 25, and McLaren's one for 23, the rest of the bowlers struggled to contain Raina and Badrinath.
IPL3 : Sachin's IPL | Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings | CSK vs MI | Mumbai Indians Win By 5 Wickets | Sachin Tendulkar Man Of The Match | Records and Achievements
