Mumbai Indians (MI) picked up a much needed victory against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association's International Stadium, Pune. Mumbai who picked up only their second victory of the season beat Chennai by eight wickets with two balls remaining.
Riding on the back of a successful partnership by their openers, MI got off to a perfect start as they posted 69 runs for the very first wicket. Skipper Rohit Sharma stepped in to bat in the ninth over and once he got going Mumbai never really looked in danger of losing this game. Sharma scored an unbeaten 56 off just 33 deliveries in a Man of the Match performance, to take his team out of the bottom spot and into sixth position on the points table.
Earlier in the evening, Mumbai won the toss and sent in the Super Kings to bat first. It turned out to be a good decision for Mumbai as their bowlers restricted Chennai to just 169 runs in their 20 overs. Ambati Rayudu who looked in good form scored 46 before being caught in the 11th over. Raina was the pick of the batsmen for CSK as he scored an unbeaten 75 off just 47 deliveries.
Catch all the highlights from the game here
Turning point
The turning point of the game was the first wicket partnership of 69 runs put up by Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis for Mumbai. With MI needing just 170 to win on a track that favored the batting team, it was essential that they did not lose any early wickets and their openers made sure of that as they kept the scoreboard ticking to keep ease the pressure on the team.
Best Dismissal
The best dismissal of the game was Ravindra Jadeja’s catch to dismiss the in-form Suryakumar Yadav. With Chennai looking to end the first wicket stand of Mumbai’s openers, Jadeja sprinted towards the ball in the deep midwicket area covering a lot of ground, before taking a stunning catch while still sliding towards the ball.
Batsman of the Match
Coming in to bat at number three, Sharma took his time to get used to wicket before tearing into the bowlers with some beautifully timed shots which were an absolute delight to the eye. Needing 22 to win off the last 12 balls, he hit four boundaries against Shardul Thakur in the 19th over leaving Mumbai needing just 5 runs in the last over to seal the game.
Bowler of the Match
Mitchell McClenaghan’s spell for Mumbai Indians in the first innings was without doubt the most important among the bowlers of the night. He dismissed both Dhoni and Bravo in the 17th over, just when the CSK skipper looked to be setting up to play the bigger shots. He ended the night with figures of 2/26 and an economy rate of just 6.50 against a dangerous CSK batting line-up.
Captain’s views
Rohit Sharma (MI captain), “We're very much alive in the competition. Wanted this win desperately. Spoke to the boys that we didn't want to take any decisions for the team in desperation. We wanted to be calm, today was a perfect game. When you want to win games like this, all three departments have to come collectively. That's when you get results. Except the Sunrisers game where we batted poorly, we got 190 plus in rest of the games Even when we were defending, the bowlers nearly pulled it out for us. Hope we will continue from here on, this should give us momentum … Guys are ready to miss out if team balance demands, we have a positive atmosphere in the dressing room, we still backed our team.”
MS Dhoni (CSK captain), “It's important to realize what went wrong. Losses like these makes you learn a lot. We've relied on brilliant individual performances, but here we were 10-15 short. Mumbai Indians bowled well in the middle overs. You need pace on this wicket, they bowled back of length, so it wasn't coming on.... Losses like these make you humble. If you keep winning, you don't know the areas you've to work hard. It's a good game, gives us an idea of what we should do in such situations, and whether we need to score 20 runs more. It's still early in the competition.”
What’s next
Chennai Super Kings next take the field on Monday when they welcome a resurgent Delhi Daredevils to their home in Pune. Mumbai Indians next travel to Bangalore where they will face the Royal Challengers on Tuesday.
Points table
The victory takes Mumbai out from bottom spot and up to sixth position on the table. Chennai continue to remain at the top of the table with ten points. Find the updated points table here.
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