On Thursday, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) in another thrilling nail-biter contest by 3 wickets.
CSK captain Ravindra Jadeja won the toss and put MI in to bat with hopes of restricting MI to a low score. Mukesh Choudhary quickly dispatched the Mumbai Indians’ top three batsmen, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Dewald Brevis.
Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and rookie Hrithik Shokeen, the next three batters in the batting order, calmed things down. After that, Jaydev Unadkat’s nine-ball cameo helped MI to a respectable score of 155/7.
Meanwhile, CSK’s innings started in the same way that MI’s did, with left-arm bowler Daniel Sams grabbing two quick wickets. Thereafter, a fifty-run stand was shared by Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu, who scored 30 and 40 runs respectively.
Daniel Sams took two more wickets to his total after Unadkat dismissed Uthappa, with Shivam Dube and Ambati Rayudu. Things slowed down and CSK found themselves in a tricky position, needing 42 to win off the last three overs.
Dwaine Pretorius was the one who initially helped CSK by hitting boundaries off Unadkat and Jasprit Bumrah. With 17 runs needed off the last over, Unadkat dismissed Pretorius on the first ball, seemingly ensuring MI’s victory.
However, MS Dhoni resurrected his legendary status and silenced his critics by hitting two boundaries and a six in the final over. Dhoni finished with an unbeaten 28 off 13 balls, 16 of which came off the final four balls of the run chase, putting an end to MI’s dreams of getting their first victory this season.
Thus, now MI has become the 1st team in the history of IPL to lose their starting 7 matches in the competition.
MI defeats CSK by 3 wickets: Post-Match reaction
After the match in the post-match interview, Chennai Super Kings skipper Ravindra Jadeja said
“We were very tense the way game was going. But the great finisher of the game was still there, so we knew we had a chance. He’s still here and doing it for us. Yes, he (Mukesh) has bowled well upfront and done well for us in the powerplay. If you aren’t winning games, you still want to be calm. “
“(On him dropping catches) It happens, that’s why I never take fielding for granted and practise hard. We need to work on our fielding, can’t afford to drop catches.”
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma faced yet another disappointing loss, the MI captain said
“In the end it was a great fight from us, we were in the game after not batting well, the bowlers kept us in, but in the end you know how towering MSD can be and he took them home. It’s hard to put a finger on anything, but we’re not starting well in the match. If you lose quick wickets, you’ll always be playing the catching game.”
“We always back ourselves to do well, but as I said, we lost too many early wickets, we did make a good comeback with both bat and ball, but it wasn’t enough in the end”
Points Table: MI sits at the bottom with 0 points while CSK are finally getting some results as they sit 9th in the table with 4 points.
What’s next for MI and CSK?
Mumbai Indians (MI) will lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday at Wankhede Stadium. While Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Punjab Kings (PBKS on Monday in their 8th match.
