IPL 2019, MI vs CSK: Hardik Pandya’s allround show scripts Chennai’s first defeat

Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first. Chennai made only one change – Mitchell Santner made way for Mohit Sharma in the playing XI. MI made two changes in their team – Mitchell McClenaghan missed out and Jason Behrendorff played in his stead. Mayank Markande, who was ill, was also replaced with Rahul Chahar.

First innings:

Riding Hardik Pandya’s blitzkrieg, MI creamed 29 runs in the final over to reach 170 for five against CSK. Sent into bat, Suryakumar Yadav compiled a half century to lay the foundation for Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. Before Hardik’s eight-ball 25 and Kieron Pollard’s seven-ball 17, Yadav stroked his way to 59 in 43 balls against the CSK attack that kept the MI batsmen on a tight leash till the death overs. Yadav, who hit eight fours and a six, also put on a half century stand with Krunal Pandya (42 in 32 balls) to revive MI’s floundering innings.

Second innings: 

Coming on to chase, CSK got off to a poor start, losing Ambati Rayudu for a duck in the first over. Shane Watson was also dismissed in the next over, putting the defending champions under pressure. Suresh Raina tried to stitch a partnership with Kedar Jadhav before his stay was cut short by a sensational catch from Kieron Pollard. MS Dhoni and Jadhav stitched a 54-run partnership, but after their dismissal, the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and failed to close down on the win. Jadhav, who scored 58 runs with the bat, remained the only player to score more than 20 runs from the side. But he used 54 balls for the same, and hence, the asking rate kept on increasing for CSK during the chase.

Gamechanger: There were two game changers in the match – Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard. When they came out to bat, MI still had just 120-odd runs on the board and there were just two overs left. In the final two overs, the duo added 45 runs to take their side to a competitive total of 170 runs.

But the two changed the game when they came on the field as well. After losing both the openers, Suresh Raina showed his good nick with the bat and was starting to settle down the side. But then a sensational catch in the deep from Pollard ended his innings and put a stop to a budding partnership between Raina and Kedar Jadhav. Then, Jadhav built a 54-run stand with MS Dhoni, which was broken by Pandya, who dismissed Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over. It was the over that completely shifted the momentum in MI’s corner.

Captains speak: 

MS Dhoni: “I think quite a few things went wrong for us. I think we started off well and 12th-13th over also we were on the mark, but after that there were some drops and mis-fields. The death bowling also didn’t come off. It was slightly tough on them. We do more one-on-one stuff than team meetings. On a wicket like this, what is important is carefully study which boundaries they could have cut off, and where is the error in execution. Momentum totally depends on where you are at. I don’t think the in-between innings break really plays a part. Even if you have finished well, you need to start (the second innings) well. I don’t think momentum really matters. What counts more is setting the tone while batting (or bowling). Bravo has a bit of a hamstring problem, so we’ll have to see the combination. We’re missing a few players already. There are areas to work on but what is important is for individuals to step up and take responsibility.”

Rohit Sharma: “Every game you play in IPL is important. And having lost two games at the start, every game is important. We don’t want the headache of winning every game at the back-end of the tournament. It becomes very tough. I thought 170 was a fighting total because there was something in the pitch. If we knock a few wickets with the new ball, we’ll be in the game. That’s probably why I can’t find a game-changing moment in this 40 overs. We didn’t start well, but we finished well. 170 on a Wankhede track is a sub-par score but we were very good with the ball. We saw with Jason (Behrendorff) he bowls very well with the new ball for Australia also. He got us crucial wickets in the first six overs. Rahul (Chahar) as well. Poor guy bowled only two overs, but there was a reason behind it – he was finding it tough to grip the ball. That is also why we play six bowlers, it gives me options.”

Scorecard: Mumbai Indians (S Yadav 59, K Pandya 42; Jadeja 10/1); Chennai Super Kings (Kedar Jadhav 58, Suresh Raina 16; H Pandya 3/20)

(With inputs from PTI)