Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings make for the IPL’s proverbial bash. You think you know what to expect. Something in the range of 200. A Suresh Raina sparkler or a late blitz by MS Dhoni, none of which happened on Wednesday. Never put a formula to the game, it often befuddles you. And so the Chennai Super Kings crashed to 112 on their own turf. Mumbai didn’t even allow Chennai a brief presence in the contest and chased down the target comfortably.
Richard Levi, the stocky right-hander, smashed a 34 ball 50 to set up the chase. When he lofted the ball, he hardly seemed to expend power. What a catch he could be for the Mumbai franchise!
Levi’s abrupt departure did bring a brief lull in the Mumbai innings.
Rohit Sharma’s exit for a blob made it 72 for two. Sachin Tendulkar, after hitting a straight six off Albie Morkel, had to retire hurt on 16(he was hit on the thumb).
Later, Ambati Rayudu and James Franklin steered Mumbai hope.
In the last IPL itself, Mumbai had raised the bar with their fielding. On Wednesday, their energy levels were just as infectious. Ambati Rayudu’s one-handed pick-up and throw to dismiss Faff du Plessis said it all. Raina flowed freely, first tonking Abu Nechim over mid-off. A few more sweetly timed shots gave Chennai some impetus. It didn’t matter that Murali Vijay laboured to 10 off 2.
Soon enough, Franklin, Mumbai Indian’s Man Friday in the Champions League, outfoxed Vijay. Pragyan Ojha (4-0-17-2) snapped up both Raina and Darren Bravo — the latter looked in supreme touch. Haven’t we watched Ojha do this before: creating unusual angles or mixing up the pace? Ojha’s figures were bettered by Kieron Pollard who’d figures of 4-0-15-2.
Each time Chennai had a semblance of a rewarding stand, they lost a wicket. At the end of14 overs, they were 90 for five, with Albie Morkel, too, in the dugout.
Would MS Dhoni and S Badrinath, CSK’s most dependable bats, have thought that they were actually halfway into a quicksand? Dhoni’s run-out inevitably killed the contest. With Badrinath and IPL’s costliest buy Ravindra Jadeja, too, beating a hasty retreat to the dugout, Chennai couldn’t even last the full 20 overs. The scores of their last five batsmen resembled a telephone code. A wry comment on a popular cricket website summed up CSK’s innings. “Mr Dhoni,” the reader remarked, “we are not playing overseas”.
Scorecard
Chennai Super Kings innings: F du Plessis run out (Rayudu) 3, M Vijay c Singh b Franklin 10, S Raina c Malinga b Ojha 36,
D Bravo c Pollard b Ojha 19, A Morkel c Ojha b Pollard 3, S Badrinath c Singh b Pollard 10, MS Dhoni run out (Ahmed/Karthik) 4,
R Jadeja b Malinga 3, R Ashwin run out (Singh/Karthik) 3, S Jakati not out 6,
D Bollinger c Sharma b Malinga 3;
Extras: (LB5, W7) 12
Total: (all out; 19.5 overs) 112
(5.64 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets: 1-4 (du Plessis, 0.4 ov),
2-38 (Vijay, 5.5 ov), 3-75 (Raina, 9.5 ov),
4-80 (Bravo, 11.2 ov), 5-85 (Morkel, 12.4 ov), 6-95 (Dhoni, 15.1 ov), 7-99 (Badrinath, 16.1 ov), 8-103 (Ashwin, 17.1 ov), 9-104 (Jadeja, 17.6 ov)
Bowling: L Malinga 3.5-0-16-2 (W2),
A Ahmed 2-0-17-0 (W1), H Singh 4-0-24-0 (W2), J Franklin 2-0-18-1, P Ojha 4-0-17-2,
K Pollard 4-0-15-2 (W2)
Mumbai Indians: R Levi c Bollinger b Bravo 50, S Tendulkar retired hurt 16, R Sharma c Dhoni b Bollinger 0, A Rayudu not out 18, J Franklin not out 25; Extras: (LB3, W3) 6
Total: (2 wickets; 16.5 overs) 115 (6.83 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets: 1-69 (Levi, 7.5 ov), 2-70 (Sharma, 8.3 ov), 2-72* (Tendulkar, retired not out, 8.6 ov)
Bowling: A Morkel 4-0-20-0 (W1), D Bollinger 3.5-0-34-1 (W1), R Ashwin 4-0-20-0, R Jadeja 1-0-16-0, D Bravo 3-0-14-1 (W1), S Jakati 1-0-8-0
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