Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets on Thursday night in IPL 2022.
Chennai Super Kings 97 all out in 16 overs (MS Dhoni 36 not out; Daniel Sams 3/16, Riley Meredith 2/27, Kumar Karthikeya 2/22)
Mumbai Indians 103/5 in 14.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 18, Thilak Varma 34 not out, Hrithik Shokeen 18, Tim David 16 not out; Mukesh Choudhary 3/23)
A clinical bowling performance has helped Mumbai Indians pick up their third victory of IPL 2022 after they beat Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets on Thursday night in Mumbai.
After being put into bat first, Chennai had been bowled out for 97 with MS Dhoni top-scoring with 36, and while Mumbai faltered a little in their chase, Tilak Varma, Hrithik Shokeen and Tim David ensured the team got past the finish line.
The defeat now means CSK have become the second team to be knocked out of the play-offs race as they only have 8 points from 12 matches, with just two more to go. Already four teams have crossed the 14-point mark this season, which means Chennai can no longer get a chance to defend their title this season.
Rohit Put Chennai in to Bat
Choosing to bowl first, the Mumbai Indians pacers started well, bowled good line and length and used the conditions well. The ball was swinging even in the 8th over but there were no demons in the pitch. Chennai Super Kings ended the powerplay at 32/5.
Devon Conway was the first of the wickets to fall, given out lbw off Daniel Sams to the second delivery of the first over that looked going down the leg-side to naked eye. With DRS unavailable due to "technical reasons", Conway had to trudge back to the stadium without reviewing the decision.
Two deliveries later, Moeen Ali (0) joined him in the dugout, caught in double mind on whether to play a pull short or pull his bat away to a short one by Sams. By the time he decided and tried to withdraw, the ball had already taken the top edge which flew to Hrithik Shokeen for a simple catch, CSK were 2/2 after the first over.
Robin Uthappa (1) did not last long, trying to flick across the line to a length ball by Jasprit Bumrah and rapped on the front pad. No DRS for him too. Ruturaj Gaikwad (7), who had watched the carnage from the other end, edged one down the leg-side and was caught by the keeper.
Ambati Rayudu (10) survived for 14 deliveries, struck two fours -- one off Bumrah, gliding a length ball on off past the short third-man, and the second off Riley Meredith with a superb backfoot square drive. He was out off the next delivery, caught behind as he tried to defend against a superb delivery but could manage only an inside edge to Ishan Kishan and CSK were reeling at 29/5 in the sixth over.
Shivam Dube, who has rescued CSK with some good batting down the order in couple of matches, struck Meredith for a four with a fine pull shot but the bowler had the last laugh as Dube edged the next ball, a short one on the middle stump to Ishan Kishan and the keeper took a superb catch to add to CSK's woes. CSK were 39/6 and staring down the barrel.
The CSK batters had themselves to blame as their shot-selection was not up to the mark. Mumbai Indians did bowl some good lengths and lines and used the short ball well, it was not the only reason.
Skipper M.S Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo added 39 runs for the seventh wicket partnership but could not pull CSK out the trouble totally as Bravo fell to a well planned strategy by Mumbai Indians. Tilak Varma was at short cover and he plucked a brilliant one-handed catch as Bravo drove a low full toss by Kumar Kartikeya Singh. CSK were down to 78/7 and clearly out of depth. It was a lucky break for Mumbai Indians as such catches just stick to raised hand but Varma was quite brave to put his hand out to a ball that was flying like a bullet.
The rest of the batters did not last long -- Simranjeet Singh (2) and Maheesh Theekshana (0) was out tamely and Mukesh Chaudhary struck a four before getting run out, going for a premeditated run off the last delivery of the 16th over.
Mumbai's Chase
In reply, Mumbai looked in trouble as they ended the powerplay at 36/4, only a slightly better position compared to CSK who were 32/5.
Mukesh Choudhary bowled brilliantly, claiming 3/23 in four unchanged overs, troubling the Mumbai batters with his superb line and length, using the juice in the pitch. But in the end, the score of 97 did not give CSK enough leeway.
He made the first breakthrough for CSK in the first over itself, sending back Ishan Kishan (6) as the batter chased an outswinger bowled wide and edged behind to Dhoni. Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma started with a four off Simarjeet Singh in the second over and then sent Choudhary to the fence twice in the third over, backing away to one pitched on the middle and hitting it flat over mid-off and punching a fullish but slightly wide delivery to the boundary. But he was out for 18 off 14 deliveries, nibbling at a wide one and offering an edge to Dhoni off Simarjeet Singh.
And when Daniel Sams and debutant Tristan Stubbs (0), in for Kieron Pollard, departed in quick succession, Mumbai were in trouble at 33/4.
However, Thilak Varma and Hrithik Shokeen put them on road to victory with a 48-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Both of them did not take any risks and batted sensibly, mostly dealing in singles and doubles but not hesitating to hit the occasional boundaries as they took Mumbai to 81 before Shokeen fell, succumbing to an unnecessary rush of blood as he jumped out of the crease to a fine delivery by Moeen Ali that turned big, avoided the bat and rattled the stumps.
But with just 17 runs needed to win the match, Tim David hammered Moeen Ali for two sixes in the 15th over to seal a five-wicket win for Mumbai Indians with 31 balls to spare.
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