The unthinkable happened. The fortress was breached with Chennai Super Kings suffering its first loss at home this season, going down to Mumbai Indians by 46 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday. Of the four defeats Chennai has suffered this season, two have come against Mumbai.
Mumbai Indians completed a double over CSK in IPL 12 by beating the host at the MA Chidambaram Stadium
Chennai:
Stand-in captain Suresh Raina won the toss and put Mumbai in to bat. For the second match in succession, Super Kings bowlers didn’t give the opposition any breathing space in the death overs, giving away exactly 50 runs in five overs. This despite Mumbai losing only four wickets and having ferocious strikers such as Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard.
When these two teams last met in Mumbai, it was Hardik who provided late impetus to its innings by taking a special liking for Dwayne Bravo. On Friday, though, that final surge that Mumbai was so badly after didn’t arrive much like Godot. The host recalled Mitchell Santner in place of Faf du Plessis and it turned out to be an inspired choice with the lanky left-arm bowler being at his thrifty best, giving away only 13 runs while taking two wickets, including that of Rohit Sharma’s.
The impressive Deepak Chahar had an off-day, leaking 46 runs from his four overs. In fact, in the first three overs he bowled in the Powerplay, Chahar was taken apart by Quinton de Kock, who clobbered him for a six over square-leg and creamed the next ball through covers for a four.
Chahar could afford himself a smile in the same over when he ended de Kock’s innings abruptly at 15. Mumbai captain Rohit batted himself into form, scoring 67 off 48 with six fours and two sixes and, together with Evin Lewis, added an enterprising 75 runs for the second wicket that came off 57 balls.
Rohit was harsh on Harbhajan Singh, whom he hit for two sixes in the eighth over. Up until that point, the 38-year-old, was in the midst of a tidy spell giving nine runs from his first three overs. On both occasions, Rohit stepped down the track and smote the ball powerfully.
Imran Tahir struggled to weave his magic for the second straight game with the southpaw Lewis smacking him for a six over long-off to raise the 50-run partnership. Tahir, though, ensured that he didn’t fail to add to his wicket tally by accounting for Krunal Pandya. At halfway stage, Mumbai was 84 for one neatly setting itself up for a final assault. But it lost three quick wickets for 23 runs.
Brief scores: MI 155 for 4 in 20 overs (R Sharma 67, E Lewis 32, M Santner 2/13) vs CSK 109 all-out in 17.4 overs (L Malinga 4/37, K Pandya 2/7, J Bumrah 2/10).
MI pacer Lasith Malinga proved that he is not a spent force yet, taking four wickets for 37 runs. CSK never got going in what was thought to be a not-too-daunting score to chase. Earlier, despite wearing a depleted look to its squad in the absence of the regular skipper, MS Dhoni, and spinner Ravindra Jadeja, both of who were down with fever, host CSK did well to limit a near full-strength MI to what looked a below par score of 155 for four.
Stand-in captain Suresh Raina won the toss and put Mumbai in to bat. For the second match in succession, Super Kings bowlers didn’t give the opposition any breathing space in the death overs, giving away exactly 50 runs in five overs. This despite Mumbai losing only four wickets and having ferocious strikers such as Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard.
When these two teams last met in Mumbai, it was Hardik who provided late impetus to its innings by taking a special liking for Dwayne Bravo. On Friday, though, that final surge that Mumbai was so badly after didn’t arrive much like Godot. The host recalled Mitchell Santner in place of Faf du Plessis and it turned out to be an inspired choice with the lanky left-arm bowler being at his thrifty best, giving away only 13 runs while taking two wickets, including that of Rohit Sharma’s.
The impressive Deepak Chahar had an off-day, leaking 46 runs from his four overs. In fact, in the first three overs he bowled in the Powerplay, Chahar was taken apart by Quinton de Kock, who clobbered him for a six over square-leg and creamed the next ball through covers for a four.
Chahar could afford himself a smile in the same over when he ended de Kock’s innings abruptly at 15. Mumbai captain Rohit batted himself into form, scoring 67 off 48 with six fours and two sixes and, together with Evin Lewis, added an enterprising 75 runs for the second wicket that came off 57 balls.
Rohit was harsh on Harbhajan Singh, whom he hit for two sixes in the eighth over. Up until that point, the 38-year-old, was in the midst of a tidy spell giving nine runs from his first three overs. On both occasions, Rohit stepped down the track and smote the ball powerfully.
Imran Tahir struggled to weave his magic for the second straight game with the southpaw Lewis smacking him for a six over long-off to raise the 50-run partnership. Tahir, though, ensured that he didn’t fail to add to his wicket tally by accounting for Krunal Pandya. At halfway stage, Mumbai was 84 for one neatly setting itself up for a final assault. But it lost three quick wickets for 23 runs.
Brief scores: MI 155 for 4 in 20 overs (R Sharma 67, E Lewis 32, M Santner 2/13) vs CSK 109 all-out in 17.4 overs (L Malinga 4/37, K Pandya 2/7, J Bumrah 2/10).