Flying high on cloud nine after their 99-run win over GT in Ahmedabad on Monday night, the Mumbai Indians (MI) were given a reality check and brought down to planet Earth by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The Men in Yellow thrashed the Men in Blue by 103 runs to climb to 5th in the points table, while MI slipped to 8th place. MI, who were riding on confidence ahead of this clash, were never in the contest and were outplayed in all facets of the game by a determined CSK unit.
There were glaring errors made by MI in this game, for which they lost so badly, and we will try to list them out for you.
Inability to knock over Sanju Samson dented MI’s chances
Put into bat first, CSK were quickly off the blocks thanks mainly to their mainstay and wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson. Sanju played himself initially, where Ruturaj Gaikwad took the aggressive route for a while before being dismissed. But Sanju held the innings together and let other players bat around him. CSK had a decent power play, scoring 73 but losing 2 wickets.
MI kept chipping away at the wickets from the other end to put pressure on Sanju, but the keeper batter wasn’t to be pressurised by what’s going on at the other end. Plenty of CSK players got starts and got out, which kept MI in the game. But the MI bowlers could not combat the brilliance of Samson. If MI had gotten rid of Samson earlier, then CSK would not have reached what they did in this game.
MI needs to find better plans and more specific plans to dismiss the set batters. Dismissing set batters is important, and if MI does not get early wickets, they will face similar situations in the coming matches. MI bowled well in patches, but could not find the consistency required to trouble Samson. Samson played a classic innings and stayed till the end to give CSK a fighting total on the board. Going ahead, MI needs better planning and incisiveness to troubleshoot batters.
Losing 3 wickets inside the first 3 overs of power play chasing 200+ dented MI’s chances
CSK had done well to get to 207, but the total looked gettable against MI’s power-packed batting on paper. MI needed to get off to a solid start in power play and keep wickets in hand. But what followed was a disaster which put the Men in Blue firmly on the back foot. The newcomer Danish Malewar came in as an Impact Player to open with Quinton de Kock. The first ball he faced, he was adjudged LBW plumb in front to Akeal Hosein.
Thereafter, CSK got an important wicket as Quinton de Kock fell to Mukesh Choudhary. If that was not enough, Naman Dhir tried to hoick across the line and was cleaned up by Akeal Hosein yet again as CSK reduced MI to 11/3 in 2.3 overs, and there was no way back for the MI team. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma joined forces for a partnership but were slow off the block. Both playing together went at a lesser strike-rate.
After the power play, MI were 29/3 in 6 overs. CSK, at the same stage, were 73/2 in 6 overs. Never mind the wickets lost, CSK scored 44 runs more than MI inside the power play. That was the main difference in the end.
MI has been struggling at the top order, and with Rohit injured, the team lacks the balance. Rohit is the guy who can give the team a positive start, but he cannot say when he can compete on the field after injury. Too many wickets lost in the power play, as at 11/3, it was curtains there and then. Tilak and Surya tried to fight, but it was to no avail. MI needs to start well and fix the top-order problem as soon as possible. Time is running out for them.
Losing 7/20 after a sluggish partnership in 7.2 overs sealed the fate of the matchÂ
MI started poorly, but there was some resistance shown by the MI batters in the back-end of the power play and the middle phase as well. The duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma got together and were knocking it around with the required rate only going upwards and upwards. There was a lack of intent shown by the duo, though they resisted an excellent CSK bowling effort by knocking it around. They took the power play score to 29/3, which was inadequate.
The duo raised the tempo and started to go for the runs to set it up for something dramatic to happen later in the innings. But nothing happened to write home about. The duo put on 73 in 56 balls in a rebuilding act, but made sure that the required rate climbed upwards to alarming levels. MI went for their shots and paid the price. The score reached 84 when Tilak was dismissed. MI needed to go big, and this brought their downfall. After Tilak fell to Hosein, the procession of wickets began.
Hardik Pandya came and went for 1 to Noor Ahmad before Sherfane Rutherford came and went for a golden duck. Suryakumar Yadav exited the scene soon. It was now a matter of time as the last 2-3 wickets added a few more runs as MI were bowled out for 104 in 19 overs. To put things in perspective, MI lost 7/20 in 7.2 overs to lose the game. This was such a dramatic collapse.
MI’s batting looks dysfunctional and directionless as well. They need to fix the major batting issues and have better plans to start well and end well. Here, it was about losing wickets in clusters and not having any momentum whatsoever through the course of the innings. MI were never really in the chase, and concerning signs for MI going forward in the tournament.
What Lies Ahead
So, Mumbai have slipped to 8th place in the standings while CSK are in 5th place in their standings. MI hosts SRH on 29th April, next, while CSK hosts GT on Sunday afternoon in Chennai. Tonight, defending champions RCB are playing their last game in Bengaluru as they host GT in a crucial clash for the visitors. Let’s see how the game pans out later tonight.
Also Read:Â MI vs CSK: Sanju Samson & Akeal Hosein Batter MI To Submission.