Yet again Mumbai Indians produced a thoroughly entertaining performance against the Chennai Super Kings as they thrashed the yellow brigade a huge margin of 46 runs. With the 7th win of the competition, Mumbai Indians have now leapfrogged Delhi Capitals to the 3rd position in the points table. The top 3 teams have almost qualified for the playoffs with several other teams fighting for the 4th spot. The victory was largely built around a sensational bowling performance by all the MI bowlers.
The Turning point match
There were a few turning points in the match. Right from the start, it was the knock of 67 from Rohit Sharma which proved to be the difference between the two teams in the end. After the dismissal of Rohit Sharma, MI couldn’t quite press on the accelerator and only managed to score 155 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
In the 2nd innings, it was the double wickets from Krunal Pandya and his exceptional spell of spin bowling was instrumental in MI winning the 44th match of the tournament. Rahul Chahar and Anukul Roy also bowled brilliantly and bagged some crucial wickets between them. Lasith Malinga also bowled well during the death overs and bagged 4 wickets for 37 runs in his 4 overs spell.
Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians- 2nd innings
Chasing a more than a competitive score on a dicey pitch, Chennai Super Kings lost the wicket of inform batsman Shane Watson in the very first over of Lasith Malinga. It was a nothing delivery from Malinga which handed MI their first wicket. Chennai Super Kings were never in the chase as they kept losing wickets on a consistent basis.
Krunal Pandya used the conditions to good effect and castled Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu. Hardik Pandya also bagged the crucial wicket of Suresh Raina. Wickets kept tumbling on a consistent basis as CSK was staring down the barrel.
Lasith Malinga was simply superb in the final few overs as he ended with 4 crucial wickets in his 4 overs spell for 37 runs. Meanwhile, speedster Jasprit Bumrah also had a terrific day at the office bagging a couple of wickets for just 10 runs.
Eventually, the target proved to be way too much for Chennai Super Kings as they were skittled out for a meagre 107 runs in the 18th over. Malinga was the pick of MI bowlers bagging 4 wickets while Bumrah and Krunal also chipped in with a couple. Murali Vijay was the highest scorer for CSK with a knock of 37.
Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians- 1st innings
It was Chennai Super Kings stand-in skipper Suresh Raina who won the toss and asked the visitors to bat. Openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock got MI off to a good start with a partnership of 24 runs before Deepak Chahar dismissed De Kock as the southpaw went for a big shot.
Rohit Sharma took the onus on himself to take Mumbai Indians to a position of safety. He batted sensibly and shared a good stand of 74 runs with Ewin Lewis who was playing the first match of his tournament. Evin Lewis after taking his time started taking on the CSK bowlers.
He struck 3 fours and a six during his knock of 32. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma struck his first half-century of the season. He went onto score 67 of 48 deliveries before his dismissal. The CSK bowlers made a great comeback towards the back end of the innings.
Mitchell Santner bowled brilliantly. He pitched the ball in the right areas and allowed the pitch to do the rest. The left-arm spinner bagged two crucial wickets for 13 runs in his 4 overs spell. Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard didn’t manage to hit the big shots in the end as MI eventually finished their allotted 20 overs on 155/4.