IPL 2020, Match 1 – Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings – CSK prevail as MI suffer 8th successive loss in opening matches
It took them 6 matches since that thrilling opener in 2018, but the Chennai Super Kings have beaten the Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets in the opening game (MI vs CSK) of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League at the United Arab Emirates.
Batting first, Mumbai got off to a flier, courtesy a 46-run opening stand between Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma. Once the two of them were dismissed in succession, the run rate began to dip down as the duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary tried to steady the ship. Saurabh Tiwary was looking good to bat till the end, but just as he was starting to accelerate, he was pouched brilliantly on the long-on boundary by Faf du Plessis.
A middle-order consisting of the Pandya brothers and Pollard failed to make a mark in the death overs. Thanks to a brief cameo from James Pattinson, Mumbai Indians reached 162.
Mumbai then struck twice with the ball in the first couple of overs, Boult and Pattinson trapping both CSK openers leg before. Ambati Rayudu, who has had a roller coaster of a last couple of years, took the mantle of taking the attack to the opposition, while his partner Faf du Plessis took his time to settle in.
ALSO READ: IPL 2020: MI vs CSK MyTeam11 Prediction – Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings MyTeam11 Team, Preview, Probable Playing XI and Fantasy Cricket Tips
Rayudu and du Plessis had a partnership of 115 before the former was dismissed for 71, brilliantly caught by Rahul Chahar off his own bowling. Mumbai had a sniff at the game after dismissing Jadeja, but Sam Curran was promoted up the over to mainly take care of Krunal Pandya’s left-arm orthodox spin, and he did so to great effect. By the time Curran was dismissed by Bumrah, Chennai needed 10 at a run-a-ball, and Faf du Plessis steered them home with three boundaries, bring up his fifty in the process.
What went wrong for the Mumbai Indians in the MI vs CSK game?
There were quite a few reasons as to why the Mumbai Indians failed to break the deadlock of their record in their opening match of the Indian Premier League, losing their 8th successive opening game. Three of the vitals reasons are listed below:
1)Failure to capitalize on a good start
The platform set by Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma was not as much utilized by the middle-order batsmen as the Mumbai Indians would have desired. As Rohit Sharma said, compared to the way Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis controlled their innings, Mumbai Indians were not even close to doing so, losing their well-set batsmen as crucial moments. Saurabh Tiwary, who was well set to bat through, holed out at a stage where Mumbai needed someone to provide support to the middle-order. Moreover, it did not help them that the reputed big-hitters in their batting line-up in Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, despite trying their best to inject some momentum in the middle-overs, failed to get going.
Saurabh Tiwary scored 42 off 31 in the MI vs CSK game
ALSO READ: Deepak Chahar – From a Powerplay Specialist to Dhoni’s go-to bowler at Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
2)Poor outfield display
Not every day do you get to see someone like Trent Boult, who has established a reputation of being an excellent outfielder letting a ball go through him to the ropes. He was not the only one guilty of being casual, a sweep from Ambati Rayudu went past a sloppy Jasprit Bumrah at backward point as well. It was as if the intent just wasn’t there for the Mumbai Indians on the field, something that reflected the most when their skipper, Rohit Sharma was way too slow in chasing down a cover drive from du Plessis.
3)Off-colour Bumrah
To think that Jasprit Bumrah would pin down yorker after yorker in his first game in almost half a year would have been too much to ask for, but figures of 43 in 4 Overs with a wicket doesn’t quite sit well with his name. He did start off well, with 4 dot deliveries, but then, a four off a no-ball and a six from Rayudu set the tone for a forgettable evening for the Baroda pacer. Upon being called for 1-over spells in the middle-overs, he failed to break the partnership between Rayudu and du Plessis, and it was too much for him to do in the penultimate over, with 16 runs left, particularly after an unsuccessful evening. A slog-sweep for six from Sam Curran and a boundary from du Plessis further tarnished his figures, leaving the Chennai Super Kings with 5 to get off the final over.