A lot was expected from the match which featured two of the most fancied teams in IPL and the match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings lived up to all the expectations. The outcome of the match was the most unexpected one as no team fancies scoring 14 runs of the last three deliveries.
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings batted first and for once got a good start from their openers. CSK controlled the innings beautifully and their fancied players came to party. The middle order looked in good form and they had a strong finish.
Mumbai Indians started the chase well and two of their most experienced players put up a match winning partnership. Their middle order made the mess of the solid foundation that they got and it was left to a newcomer to do achieve an implausible task.
Here are some of the hits and flops from both teams.
Chennai Super Kings:
Hits:
Suresh Raina: He has been struggling with his form in this season, but in this match he played an innings that everybody expects from him. He timed the ball beautifully and scored at a brilliant strike-rate. His innings of 36 provided CSK a good platform to launch.
Murali Vijay: Vijay who had a horrendous tournament till now found some form in this match. He started attacking the Mumbai bowlers upfront and cleared the boundary thrice in his innings of 41 runs.
Flops:
Albie Morkel: He missed out with the bat, but it was his bwling that would have disappointed his skipper the most. He shared the new ball and started leaking the runs, his economy rate was 11 in the match and for an international bowler of his experience it is not acceptable.
Ben Hilfenhaus: His first 3.3 overs were good but the last three deliveries changed the match. Mumbai needed 14 runs of three bowls and on-strike was newcomer Dwayne Smith. Hilfenhaus bowled two knee high full tosses and that were dispatches for a six and a four. The last delivery of the match from this premier Aussie bowler was a floating half-volley and that also went for four.
Mumbai Indians:
Hits:
Sachin Tendulkar: He finally came to the party and hit CSK bowlers to every part of the ground. Mumbai looks a great team when the batting genius is in good touch and that’s what happened. Sachin looked in great form and his 44 ball 74 included 11 fours and one six over fine leg.
Dwayne Smith: He scored 24 runs in 9 balls and won Mumbai the match. He has always been a powerful hitter and he showcased his hitting ability in perfect manner. His last three shots were hit with tremendous power and with tremendous accuracy.
Lasith Malinga: He once again bowled beautifully and restricted Chennai from making close to 190 runs. He took three wickets and has become the holder of the purple cap. Malinga’s economy rate was around six in a match where the other bowlers gave runs at an economy of more than nine.
Flops:
Munaf Patel: Patel has been a consistent performer for Mumbai this season, but in this match he went the distance. Patel gave away 46 runs in the four overs that he bowled and he looked pretty ordinary.
Middle Order: When Sachin got out Mumbai was in a good position to win the match, but it all fell apart. Rohit Sharma after playing a good innings played a bad shot to get out. Karthik and Rayudu also succumbed to bad shots. Bowling all-rounders Harbhajan Singh and Peterson also got out cheaply.
By Gaurav Jha
Indian Sports News
