During the 27th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at Pune, Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets to win just their second match of the season.
After Rohit Sharma won the toss and put the home team in to bat, Chennai Super Kings scored 169-5 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. Their innings was powered by Suresh Raina’s 33rd IPL half-century. Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni chipped in with notable contributions.
In the second innings, Mumbai Indians started on a cautious note for they had realised that 170 runs should not be a daunting target to chase provided they played to their potential. It was an archetype captain’s knock from Rohit Sharma which helped Mumbai Indians in sealing the chase.
Now, we will look at the hits and flops players in this match.
Hits
Suresh Raina (CSK) – Coming in to bat at No. 3 in the fifth over, Suresh Raina up the ante of Chennai Super Kings’ innings from the word go. He shared a 71-run stand with Ambati Rayudu for the second wicket. Raina ended up scoring 75* (47) with the help of six fours and four sixes.
Mitchell McClenaghan (MI) – Opening the bowling for Mumbai Indians, Mitchell McClenaghan bowled a couple of overs in the powerplay, giving away 16 runs. Giving away six runs, he then bowled the 11th over of the innings. His fourth over was his most productive over as he gave up only four runs and picked up a couple of wickets in return. He ended up with bowling figures with 4-0-26-2.
Rohit Sharma (MI) – Rohit Sharma, who came in to bat at No. 3 in the 10th over, cautiously played his first over. Once settled, he took on the opposition bowlers to the extent that he looked unstoppable after that. After Evin Lewis (47) was dismissed, Sharma took the onus onto him, sealing the chase for his team. He ended up scoring 56* (33) with the help of six fours and two sixes.
Flops
Shane Watson (CSK) – Opening the batting with Ambati Rayudu, Watson failed to play an innings of significance tonight. It was another of those matches where he was seen getting out to a left-arm spinner. He scored 12 (11) with the help of one four. With the ball in hand, Watson bowled his full quota of four overs, giving away 41 runs without affecting any dismissal.
Shardul Thakur (CSK) – Sharing the new ball with Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur proved to be an expensive affair today. Thakur bowled a couple of overs in the powerplay, giving away 16 runs. He gave a paltry five runs in his third over which was bowled at a crucial juncture. However, in the penultimate over of the innings, he conceded 17 runs and unable to stop an in-form Rohit Sharma. His overall bowling figures read 4-0-38-0.
Imran Tahir (CSK) – Imran Tahir, too, lacked magnitude in his bowling tonight. His match figures of 2.4-0-26-0 are evident of the fact it was not the best of day for the South African leg-spinner in the office.
