Mumbai Indians (MI) rose, yet again, from the dead to hand Chennai Super Kings (CSK) its first defeat in 11 matches at the Chepauk — stretching back to 2013 — with a six-wicket win here on Friday.
The victory was MI’s fifth on-the-trot, sending it to fourth place, and keeps CSK waiting for one more game to seal its playoff spot.
It seemed a lost cause for MI, with 30 needed from 12 balls. But Hardik Pandya smashed three sixes off Pawan Negi in the penultimate over to turn it around completely. The effort, along with three catches and a solitary over conceding four runs, earned him the man-of-the-match award.
Chasing 159, Mumbai coasted along in the first ten overs, with openers Lendl Simmons’s and Parthiv Patel’s batting a far cry from the home batsmen’s travails. But R. Ashwin, who recovered sufficiently to play the game, brought CSK back into it.
In his final two overs, he gave away only three runs and dismissed both Parthiv and Simmons, who had an opening partnership of 84 runs from 10 overs, in the space of three deliveries.
It was soon three wickets for three runs as Dwayne Bravo ran out Kieron Pollard when a single was attempted after Suresh Raina couldn’t hold on to a tough Rohit Sharma catch at slip. With the score at 105 for three, du Plessis dropped Rohit at long off. Thankfully it didn’t prove costly.
But Ambati Rayudu stepped up and reduced the equation from 51 runs off 24 balls to 34 off 18. Nehra had a bruising time, getting hammered for 45 runs in his three overs.
A brilliant 18th over by Bravo — four runs and a wicket — seemed to signal another shift, but Pandya’s brilliance sealed it for MI. What was until then an excellent evening for Negi, whose innings (36, 17b, 4x4, 1x6) gave CSK a chance, had turned sour.
Earlier, CSK got off to a fine start, scoring 44 runs in five overs, quite in line with the recent pattern. But the loss of Brendon McCullum, at the fag end of that period seemed to put the brakes completely.
In the next three overs only 15 runs came. It also saw Marchant de Lange (4-1-30-0), who replaced Lasith Malinga in the playing eleven, bowl a maiden. Suresh Raina tried to force the issue but ended up holing out to Pandya at deep mid-wicket off J. Suchith (4-0-21-1).
From there the home side’s journey seemed even more laborious. While coach Stephen Fleming had said that much depended on how the side could marry style with substance, the batsmen, in their quest for the latter, drilled themselves into a hole.
A meagre 25 runs were scored from overs nine to 13 for the loss of two wickets. Only Negi’s entry, after du Plessis was caught out by a fine Simmons catch at short fine leg, brought a semblance of excitement. Three fours off de Lange in the 17th over set the tone for a late blitz.
Dhoni, admirably, realised it and gave Negi the strike right at the start of the 18th over and latter, off the very next ball, moved his front leg out of the way and belted a six over long on. In all, 50 runs came in the last four overs.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/mumbai-breaches-fort-chennai/article7186749.ece
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