Hardik Pandya destroys CSK!
Mumbai Indians defeated the Chennai Super Kings pretty convincingly on Wednesday. The target of 171 set by the Mumbai Indians proved to be too good for the CSK batsmen on the Wankhede pitch. Some stellar bowling performances upfront from the debutant Jason Behrendorff and Lasith Malinga exposed the middle order of CSK.
MS Dhoni after winning the toss decided to bowl first, an easy decision at the Wankhede Stadium because chasing becomes easier there due to the dew.
The start from MI was disappointing with Quinton de Kock falling off Deepak Chahar. Rohit Sharma too fell to Ravindra Jadeja just after the powerplay in the 8th over. The scoring rate in the powerplay was very low for the Mumbai Indians before Surya Kumar Yadav helped the scorings by getting consecutive boundaries off the bowling of Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar. He looked the best batsman against the moving ball out of all the MI batsmen. Yuvraj Singh struggled to get runs and got out for just 4 runs to Imran Tahir. Surya played brilliantly with Krunal Pandya to get the score to 125–5 in 18 overs. Krunal’s innings was very solid and he scored 42 runs off just 32 balls. Then came Pollard and Hardik Pandya, smashing 45 runs in the last two overs inclung 29 off the last from Bravo! Mumbai would have surely accepted 170 considering the start they got.
Chennai was treated by some beauties from Jason Behrendorff upfront. Rayudu got dismissed on his first ball to him. Watson fell in the very next over to Lasith Malinga. Raina’s counter attack was brought to a halt by a stunning catch from Pollard at deep cover. Then Dhoni and Jadhav built a steady partnership but the required rate kept climbing. Just when CSK were looking to accelerate, Dhoni got dismissed to Hardik Pandya giving an easy catch to short leg. The innings just fell apart from here with Jadeja, Jadhav and Bravo all felling in quick succession. In the end Mumbai won by 37 runs, restricting CSK to 133–9.
Man of the match went to Hardik for his brilliant all-round display.
Lot to think for the Chennai Super Kings after this game, especially their middle order. If their top order collapses, they don’t have enough resources in their middle order. They should consider getting Faf du Plessis in for the next game in place of a bowler to strengthen their batting. Also, they need to find adequate death bowling options as Bravo went for plenty yesterday. He also seems to have a niggle in his hamstring which could rule him out for atleast 2–3 games. Next, they face the Kings XI Punjab in Chennai on Saturday, a crucial game as they are the top two teams in the points table.
For the Mumbai Indians though, there’s only one problem, their middle order. I think Ishan Kishan should be a given a nod ahead of Yuvraj Singh for the next game against SRH in Hyderabad, given the recent form of Yuvi. The addition of Jason B has given them a boost in their fast bowling attack. Now they are looking good and will look to continue their momentum.
Delhi Capitals face SRH at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday night. Delhi will look to put behind the demons of their last game and register a win against SRH. SRH on the other hand will look to climb to the top spot on the points table with a win.
