IPL 2018: Match 27, CSK vs MI - Who Said What

Mumbai Indians (MI) have beaten Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to register their second win of the season at MCA International Stadium in Pune. Rohit Sharma was the man for the defending champions in the chase once again who made sure they didn’t mess things in the end. For the hosts, it was Suresh Raina who played a valiant knock but it went in vain in the end. However, the credit should go the bowlers of Mumbai who pulled things back nicely in the death overs and restricted the Men in Yellow below the par total.

After being inserted to bat first by the visitors, CSK got off to a decent start despite losing Shane Watson early. Ambati Rayudu once again played wonderfully well and slammed a half-century. He was supported well by Suresh Raina who stayed until the end for his team by scoring 75 runs off just 47 deliveries. But the credit should go to the bowlers of Mumbai who pulled it back nicely in the death overs. Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah were brilliant as they didn’t concede many and restricted CSK to 169 after 20 overs.

Krunal Pandya also has to get the special mention here for picking the key wickets of Watson and Rayudu which pegged the hosts back in the early and middle overs. The chase started cautiously for the visitors as Evin Lewis struggled to get going. But his partner Suryakumar Yadav batted well again and continued his purple patch as well much like Rayudu. Though the things went out of hands at one stage for Mumbai, their skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front and won the game from them.

It was a clinical effort from him to not botch up the chase and unfurled some of the best in his repertoire. While the extension of his arms to a pitched-up delivery from Watson grabbed everyone’s eyeballs, the lap sweep in the same over left everyone stunned. It was a calculated knock from the captain fantastic as he made sure there were no further hiccups in the chase. They have finally won their second game and would hope to get back on track now.

Man of the Match and Mumbai Indians captain, Rohit Sharma said:

Very much alive. Wanted this win desperately. In desperation, we didn’t want to take decision that won’t go well. Wanted to stay calm. We’ve played good cricket. But that finishing touch wasn’t happening. Today we batted well, bowled well, fielded well.

If I look back at it, except the Sunrisers game where we batted poorly. Rest of the game we put on 190-plus. It was just about going in with calm heads. This game will give confidence going forward. That was very critical (the bowlers’ comeback).

For me as a captain it was important to understand what will be the right combination. We still have a positive atmosphere going forward. Tough leaving out Pollard. He’s done so many good things for us. He took it upon him.

Going forward, don’t want to dismiss him completely. He’ll still be our match winner. Not dismissing any players going forward. Will be surprises going forward as well. It was the match situation (promotion to No.3).

Wanted to get that right-left combination going. They’ve got an off-spinner, left-arm spinner and leg-spinner so we wanted to keep them guessing.

Chennai Super Kings captain, MS Dhoni said:

I think it is important to realize what went wrong. And in the league stage, you will lose. A lot of times we have seen individuals winning it for us. This was one game where we were short by 10-15 runs. Mumbai Indians bowled really well in the middle overs.

The wicket had some balls coming on to you very quickly. Playing the cross batted shots was not easy. Choice of deliveries can improve from our bowlers. Overall, we would have liked to add 20-25 runs more. A loss makes you humble.

It tests the other batsmen and bowlers. Also, if you keep winning you don’t know what area you need to work on. It was a good game for us. We have won quite a few games. We now have time to analyze what needs to be done.

Overall, it was a tight game and ended in the last over. You should not lose in the 14th or the 15th over, because that will affect the run-rate.

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