CSK suffered a 9-wicket defeat against MI at Wankhede. MI outplayed CSK in every department. This is the 6th defeat for CSK this season, and their playoff chances are quite dim now. They have to win all their remaining matches to stay in the playoff race.
Slow start
Once again, CSK’s openers started slowly in the Powerplay. They scored just 16 runs in the first 3 overs. They didn’t put any pressure on the MI bowlers initially. Ayush Mhatre came in the 4th over and changed the momentum towards Chennai. He played some attacking shots, which made the bowlers change their line and length.
Lack of intent from Ravindra Jadeja & Shivam Dube in the middle overs
After Ayush Mhatre’s fireworks, Chennai ended the powerplay with 48/1 in 6 overs. But after that, Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja took a lot of time to settle in the crease. They scored just 55 runs from 6 to 14 overs. They made up for that in the next overs by scoring 39 runs in it, but one of them should have shown some intent in the middle overs as well.
Jasprit Bumrah’s flamboyant spell
CSK were in 142/2 after 16 overs and well set for a big score. But two overs of Bumrah changed the momentum towards MI. Bumrah bowled the 17th and 19th over and gave just 15 runs combined. He also took the wicket of Dube in the 17th over, which helped Hardik to bring Santner against Dhoni in the 18th over.
Ravindra Jadeja failed to attack Santner in the 18th over as well. In the 19th over, Bumrah removed the dangerous MS Dhoni as well. CSK fell short of 20 runs at that moment itself. A target of 177 was not a match-winning score, given dew was setting up at the back end of the 1st innings.
Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav’s partnership
Khaleel Ahmed had a good record against Rohit Sharma but failed to take his wicket initially, and CSK paid the price. Rohit got well set in the crease and took the chase in control. Rohit, along with Ryan Rickelton, got MI to a flyer with a sturdy partnership of 63 runs in 64 balls.
Suryakumar Yadav, who came in at no. 3 started playing sweep shots against CSK spinners, which CSK batters failed to do so.
They hit boundaries in frequent deliveries and never let CSK to comeback into the game. Rohit & Suryakumar stitched a match-winning partnership of 114 runs in 54 balls and it looked as if they were toying with bowlers.
Spinners Choked
Mitchell Santner bowled really well and gave just 14 runs in his 3 overs. He floated the ball and mixed the pace brilliantly. But, CSK spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Noor Ahmad, were pushing the ball faster and flatter, which made it easy for Suryakumar to play the sweep shot. They chose to attack with the faster deliveries to neglect the sweep shot, but the ball was skidding on the pitch, and they bowled flatter and made the sweep shot as an easy option.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who came as an impact player in place of Shivam Dube, bowled really well and gave just 25 runs in his 4 overs, but was wicketless, which hurt CSK more. Jadeja and Noor went for 28 and 36 runs in their 3 overs each, respectively. This is where the game completely drifted towards MI.
Also Read:Â MI vs CSK: MS Dhoni Gives Hint Of Participating In ‘IPL 2026’ After Crushing Defeat Against MI