Chennai: Rohit Sharma (67, 48b, 6×4, 3×6) and bowlers helped Mumbai Indians (MI) register an emphatic 46-run win in their IPL encounter against an MS Dhoni-less Chennai Super Kings (CSK) here, Friday.
Chasing a decent but challenging target of 156 runs, the hosts CSK struggled from the beginning, losing opener Shane Watson early as the defending champions were reduced to 9/1 in the first over.
CSK then lost wickets at regular intervals, failing to build any partnerships. Opener Murali Vijay (38, 35b, 3×4, 1×6), who was playing his first match this season, was the only batsman to offer some resistance. He however, couldn’t find an ally as wickets kept falling at the other end.
His wicket in the 12th over reduced the hosts to 66/6. Dwayne Bravo (20) and Mitchell Santner (22) tried to resurrect CSK innings with a 33-run stand for the seventh wicket before CSK were bowled out for 109 in 17.4 overs.
Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga (4/37) was the standout among the MI bowlers and he was ably supported by other bowlers, including Krunal Pandya (2/7) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/10).
Earlier, skipper Rohit struck his first half century of the season before CSK bowlers fought back brilliantly to restrict MI to 155/4.
While Rohit was the star with the bat for MI, it was Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (2/13) starred with the ball for CSK with brilliant figures.
Sent in to bat by stand-in captain Suresh Raina after MS Dhoni was ruled out of the match due to fever, MI couldn’t capitalise on a good start, faltering against some accurate bowling by the home team.
From 103/2 in 13 overs, MI could only muster 52 runs in the final seven overs. The big-hitting Hardik Pandya (23 n o) and Kieron Pollard (13 n o) couldn’t do much damage but still managed to get MI past the 150-run mark.
Rohit led from the front with a typically elegant half century during which he looked in control for the most part. He was holed out to Murali Vijay at long-on off Santner.
Krunal Pandya, pushed up the order in a bid to speed up the scoring rate, fell for just one run, caught by Santner in the deep off Imran Tahir’s bowling.
West Indies power-hitter Evin Lewis (32) added 75 runs with Rohit for the second wicket and took the attack to the CSK bowlers.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 155/4 (Rohit Sharma 67, Evin Lewis 32; Mitchell Santner 2/13) bt Chennai Super Kings 109 (Murali Vijay 38; Lasith Malinga 4/37, Krunal Pandya 2/7, Jasprit Bumrah 2/10) by 46 runs.
Dhoni misses MI game with fever
Chennai: Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni Friday missed out of their IPL game against Mumbai Indians owing to fever, the franchise said. The twice World Cup-winning captain is missing a CSK match only for the second time since 2010. “Thala (Dhoni) missing out a game for the second time this season, this time due to fever!” CSK wrote on its twitter handle. This is the second time Dhoni has missed a CSK game this season – the first being against Sunrisers Hyderabad because of back spasms. This was only the fourth IPL match Dhoni was not playing for CSK.
