Mumbai Indians (MI) lost the plot after an extraordinary start to their first game of second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). After a terrible performance in the powerplay overs where CSK’s mighty top order was brought to their knees, the three-time IPL champion made an emphatic comeback to win the game comfortably by 20 runs and move to the top of points table dethroning Delhi Capitals (DC).
Chasing a below par target of 157 at the Dubai International cricket stadium, CSK lost three wickets in the powerplay overs and failed to gain momentum in the middle overs. MI were badly missing the services of Hardik Pandya in the middle overs as they failed to accelerate in the middle overs and the required run rate kept rising.
Saurabh Tiwary kept the run chase alive with his unbeaten half-century but did not get much support from the other end. The stand-in captain Kieron Pollard failed to repeat his heroics from the first phase of IPL 2021 to rescue MI once again as he lost his wicket to Josh Hazlewood. Dwayne Bravo was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets in his bag. Deepak Chahar too impressed with the new ball removing both openers. In skipper Rohit Sharma’s absence, debutant Anmolpreet Singh played a few flamboyant shots but failed to capitalise.
Earlier it was Ruturaj Gaikwad who saved the day with an unbeaten 88-run knock from 58 deliveries including 9 fours and four sixes. Gaikwad anchored the innings despite the batting collapse and stitched valuable partnerships with Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo to get CSK back on track.
CSK also registered their lowest powerplay score for the season as they lost four wickets including two ducks. Ambati Rayudu got retired hurt after a thunderbolt of a delivery from Trent Boult hit his elbow. The magnitude of Rayudu’s injury is not yet clear as he did not return to bat later in the innings.
For MI, Boult and Adam Milne were ferocious with the new ball taking two big wickets each in the powerplay overs. Jasprit Bumrah also bagged a couple of wickets. However, the left-arm pacer and Bumrah turned out to be expensive in the death overs.
