IPL 2019: Match 15 – MI vs CSK – Who Said What

Mumbai Indians (MI) are one of the teams, which has troubled the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Today was no different as the team, captained by Rohit Sharma, won by 37 runs and won their second match in the IPL. The Super Kings had their moments to cherish in the game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, but couldn’t be consistent enough to emerge victorious.

Mumbai rack up a substantial score

Mumbai went on to rack up 170 for five after being sent to bat first. Deepak Chahar removed Quinton de Kock to strike first blood. Rohit Sharma looked scratchy in his 18-ball 13. The veteran Yuvraj Singh couldn’t make an impact and was picked up by Imran Tahir. However, Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya brought sanity back into the proceedings. The duo put on a useful partnership of 62 runs.

Yadav racked up a half-century and got out to Dwayne Bravo in the 18th over after scoring 59 from 43 balls with eight boundaries and one over-boundary. Krunal scored 42 from 32. In the death overs, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya went hell for leather and propelled Mumbai’s score. Even as Hardik churned out a belligerent 8-ball 25, Pollard churned out a 7-ball 17. Dwayne Bravo leaked 29 runs in his last over.

CSK couldn’t get over the line

The home team lost three early wickets to get pushed on the backfoot from the outset. Even as Jason Behrendorff got rid of Shane Watson and Suresh Raina, Lasith Malinga pinned the dangerous Shane Watson. With CSK in grave trouble, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav took the onus upon themselves and added 51 runs for the third wicket. Dhoni’s painful 21-ball 12 vigil was brought to an end by Pandya.

Jadhav went on to score 58 from 54 before being nipped out by Malinga. Ravindra Jadeja flattered to deceive as Hardik picked him up. By then the required rate had escalated to a significant extent. It didn’t take much time for things to go downhill for the Super Kings. The heavy drubbing also meant that CSK are pushed to the bottom of the points table below the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

MS Dhoni, the CSK captain, said

I think quite a few things went wrong for us. We started well, were right on the mark for the first 10-12 overs. Then, a few catches were dropped, a few misfields, the death over bowling wasn’t great. We don’t have bowlers who hit the deck, it was slightly tough on them. We do have one-on-one plans, we needed to know where we could cut-off the boundaries, which batsmen to target, a boundary less or two could have made a difference to a 10-12 run over or a 7-run over.

We needed to build some momentum, but we need to know when to plan for those. It is a tough thing – this so-called momentum, it doesn’t really matter, a good start from the bowlers will make things tight, once you set the tone, the game goes along in that flow. We will have to see the wicket for the next game, we have to see the combination. Bravo has an hamstring injury, we don’t have a few players, we already have some injuries, David Willey isn’t there, he has his own problems, Lungi Ngidi isn’t with us as well, we will have to look at the pitch and then decide on the right combination.

Rohit Sharma, the MI captain, said

I think every game we play in the IPL is important. Having lost two games at the start, suddenly every match becomes important. We don’t want to keep that task of having to win many games at the end, it’s really difficult. We just wanted to play the brand of cricket Mumbai Indians are known for. We just kept ourselves in the game all the way through and those are good signs. I thought 170 was a fighting total here because you never know.

We knew that there was something in the pitch and if we could knock wickets early, things could work. That’s exactly what happened. We didn’t start off well with the bat but we finished really well. With the ball, we were extremely clinical. To defend a 170 score at Wankhede, you need to be really good with the ball and we were with the fielding also being extremely efficient.

That’s why I can’t pinpoint a single match-changing event, there were so many of them. Jason has been great for Australia with the new ball and we all know what he is capable of. Did the same for us and his spell early on set the tone. Rahul also seemed promising, bowled just the two overs but there was a reason for that as MS and Kedar play spin well. So, I went on with the pacers.

Hardik Pandya, the Player of the Match, said

 It feels really good to help the team win and to contribute to it. It’s been seven months since I played much competitive cricket. Have batted and batted and batted in the nets. I am someone who loves to have game time and I am hitting them really well at the moment. Yes the injury happened and then the controversy too. These seven months weren’t easy and I wasn’t sure of what to do. This award is special and I dedicate it to all those who stood by me during those tough times. My goal is to keep performing and hopefully, help India win the World Cup.

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