Mumbai Indians again produced their A game against the Chennai Super Kings as they registered their 7th victory of Vivo IPL 12 after registering a comprehensive 46 runs victory in the 44th match of the tournament. It was a sensational all-round performance from MI who also made full advantage of the absence of CSK’s regular skipper MS Dhoni. The victory was largely built around a great bowling performance by the MI spin trio of Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya and Anukul Roy.
It was stand-in CSK skipper Suresh Raina who won the toss and opted to field. Mumbai Indians started off well with openers Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma looking in great touch. De Kock was dismissed by Deepak Chahar in an attempt to up the run rate. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, played a terrific knock and played some terrific shots on a slow and turning pitch.
He scored his first half-century of the tournament which proved to be crucial innings for MI as they posted a competitive score of 155 in their allotted 20 overs. The spin trio of Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner and Harbhajan Singh bowled quite brilliantly. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner did a terrific job for CSK as he bagged two important wickets for just 13 runs.
The CSK bowlers did a terrific job in the final few overs as power hitters Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard failed to provide the much-needed impetus towards the final overs. Chasing a target of 156, Chennai Super Kings knew they had to get off to a good start. It was Murali Vijay playing the first match of his tournament who came out to open the innings with Shane Watson.
Lasith Malinga bagged the wicket of Shane Watson in the very first over with a nothing delivery. The first wickets started a slide which never stopped for CSK. Captain Suresh Raina was dismissed by Hardik Pandya as he attempted a heave towards the leg side. The elder of the Pandya brothers, Krunal castled Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav with good deliveries.
From there on it was no way back for Chennai Super Kings. They kept losing wickets on a consistent and was never really in the game for any stretch of the imagination. They were eventually bowled out for 108 in the 18th over. Murali Vijay was the top scorer for CSK with 38 while Lasith Malinga was the pick of the MI bowlers bagging 4 wickets for 37 runs.
Now here is what winning skipper and Man of the Match Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation
It was better to lose the toss, we were going to chase as well. We knew whether we bat or bowl first, we still had to play good cricket. We can’t control the toss. It was a great effort from the boys. Coming out here and playing here is never easy. We had to scrape every run and every wicket.
We were right there in the game. He’s (Rahul Chahar) a confident young man. His execution skills are very clear and it makes my job easier. He knows what he needs to do and what the team wants from him. He’s got variations and skills. He’s a good prospect not just for us, but for India as well.
I was hitting well, wasn’t converting into big scores. At no point, I was worried. I just kept backing myself. I knew the day will come, today was the day. It’s a massive boost to any opposition if he’s (Dhoni) not around. His presence does a lot for their team. When you don’t have him when you’re chasing, it becomes slightly difficult. They must have felt his absence. He was sick, uncontrollable. It was a great effort from us. We played some excellent cricket.
We are not yet there (playoffs). We have to be at it. Next three – two against KKR and one against SRH. As a team when we go forward, we are clear what to do. We want more good days than bad days. We have learnt from our losses.