IPL 2021: Chennai extinguish Mumbai to win on Dubai-leg return
Chennai Super Kings overcame Mumbai Indians by 20 runs to secure the top spot in the points table. They share equal points (12) with Delhi Capitals.
The Kings couldn’t have dreamed for a better restart to the IPL 2021 season as they secured a much-needed win against Mumbai Indians.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, thanks to Ruturaj Gaikwad, put on a defendable total of 156/6. However, their bowlers bowled extremely well to kill any Mumbai hopes of chasing down the total.
Gaikwad masterclass guides Chennai to a decent total
Chennai Super Kings finished their innings with a score of 156/6. And they have one man to thank for this defendable total i.e. Ruturaj Gaikwad. The Chennai opener finished not out with a score of 88 off 58 balls.
The Indian hit nine fours and four sixes in his magnificent innings. Gaikwad scored more than half of the overall Chennai runs, which shows that Dhoni’s men were totally reliant on him from the start.
Apart from Chennai’s opener, we didn’t see anything constructive coming from the middle order as du Plessis, Moeen and Rayudu all left the pitch without troubling the scores. Rayudu got retired hurt as he lasted only three balls. It remains to be seen whether he will be available for future games or not.
Dhoni also couldn’t do much as he scored only three runs off five balls. However, a late onslaught from DJ Bravo and a helping hand from Ravendra Jadeja ensured that the men in yellow crossed the 150 score mark.
If we talk about the Mumbai bowlers, everyone played a part but would be disappointed to see Chennai run away with it in the end. Boult, Milne, and Bumrah all grabbed two wickets each.
Chahar and Bravo take Chennai over the line
Chasing 157, Mumbai were totally off the pace from the start. Deepak Chahar was extremely influential for Chennai as his two early strikes of both the Mumbai openers (de Kock and Amnolpreet) set Mumbai on the back foot. From then on, Kieran Pollard’s men never really recovered or got going.
Bravo chipped in with the ball, as he did with the bat for Chennai, by taking the wicket of Ishan Kishan. Hazlewood got the all-important scalp of Mumbai’s captain, Kierran Pollard. The West Indian all-rounder was coming off a great campaign in the Caribbean Premier League. The Mumbai fans hoped that they would see the same Pollard in Mumbai. However, they may have to wait for that.
Saurabh Tiwary kept on plugging away to give Mumbai fans some hope. The left-hander brought the match down to the final over with 24 runs required. However, Tiwary’s efforts were not enough as Bravo bowled a sensational final over. Tiwary scored a half-century off forty balls, with five fours to his name. Nonetheless, Mumbai finished twenty runs short of victory.
