IPL 8, MI vs CSK: ‘Baz’zed and ‘Smith’ened, Yellow rules Fort Wankhede
Mumbai: On a Churchgate-bound train (that leads to Wankhede Stadium), a teenager flaunting a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) jersey said to his friend: “My mother allowed me to go for the match on the condition that I return by 12 am. I may not be able to stay till the end.”
Dwayne Smith (62 off 30) and Brendon McCullum (46 off 20) probably heard his prayers as the duo’s rampage sealed the fixture for CSK, against Mumbai Indians (MI), in 16.4 overs, by six wickets here on Friday.
Here is how the action unfolded.
Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat. They ended at 183 for the loss of seven wickets that looked like a competitive total but numbers, against CSK, are just numbers.
Even a wounded tiger doesn’t attack the manner in which the openers ripped apart the MI bowlers leaving their economy rate match the Maximum City skyscrapers.
Chasing 184, Smith – the power-hitter – found gaps in between deliveries that kept the scoreboard tick at geometric progression. Lasith Malinga looked green in front of the CSK batters. He lost the plot and ended up conceding a wide and a no-ball in the same over where McCullum thrashed four boundaries off him.
(Photo: BCCI)
The Men in Yellow touched the 100-run mark in seven overs.
With six boundaries and two sixes, McCullum was first to go but the mission had been accomplished. He came straight down at Harbhajan Singh but mistimed it to Vinay Kumar.
Soon, Smith followed suit trying to play a slog-sweep off Harbhajan only to get a top edge caught by Rohit Sharma. But that was after he cleared the rope four times along with eight boundaries.
(Photo: BCCI)
Suresh Raina (43 off 29) and Dwayne Bravo (13 off 5) ended the proceedings for the visitors.
Earlier, MI started shaky (as usual) with opener Parthiv Patel dismissed in the first over. The little boy – who was trapped leg-before – could not connect to the swinging delivery on the leg stump by Ashish Nehra.
Corey Anderson seemed distracted. Not able to middle the ball, he got a leading edge over the bowler’s head soon and Faf du Plessis pulled off a stunner. Faf, fielding at mid-off, sprinted towards his left and made it look easy.
VIDEO: Watch @faf1307 take a brilliant catch while diving backwards http://t.co/iDXgOrOGBr #CSK @ChennaiIPL #IPL
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(Photo: BCCI)
Lendl Simmons, who opened the proceedings with Parthiv, in absence of Aaron Finch tried to accelerate but none of his attempts bore fruit. He left MI in dire straits, at 12 for the loss of three wickets, gifting Faf his second catch.
Harbhajan, promoted up the order, displayed flashes of his Sunday blitzkrieg (24-ball 64) along with skipper Rohit Sharma to rescue the home team. Though Harbhajan could not last long (24 off 21), he had done the job with two boundaries and a six.
(Photo: BCCI)
But the man who stood out was Kieron Pollard.
Out of the five sixes Pollard hit, four of them kissed four different stands in the stadium. The first one went to Sachin Tendulkar Stand, next to Vijay Merchant Pavilion, the third and fourth went to the MCA Pavilion and the fifth went straight to the commentary box.
Pollard took 26 runs off Ravindra Jadeja’s last over, which, turned the game in MI’s favour.
Ambati Rayudu (29 off 16) turned out to be a handsome sidekick in the middle and the two solved the lost case for Mumbai. However, Bravo got the better of them in two consecutive deliveries in the last over but the damage had been done.
Pollard smashed a 30-ball 64 that helped MI reach 180.
Nehra was the most economical bowler for CSK with figures of 4-0-23-3. Ishwar Pandey (3-1-22-1) gave him solid support.
For MI, Harbhajan – though expensive – picked up two wickets. All the other bowlers ran out of steam. Even Pawan Suyal – seen taking tips from Sachin Tendulkar before the match – fell flat.
Brief scores: MI 183/7 (K Pollard 64, R Sharma 50; A Nehra 3/23) lost to Chennai Super Kings (D Smith 62, B McCullum 46; H Singh 2/44) by six wickets
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 17, 2015
