Chennai Super Kings Suffocate Mumbai Indians, Restrict Rohit Sharma’s Side To 139/8

CSK vs MI: Matheesha Pathirana starred with a spell of 3 for 15 as Chennai Super Kings restricted Mumbai Indians to 139 for 8 in 20 overs in an Indian Premier League match here on Saturday. A maiden half-century in IPL by left-handed batter Nehal Wadhera (64, 51 balls, 8×4, 1×6) and his half-century partnerships with Suryakumar Yadav (26) and Tristan Stubbs (20) helped salvage things for MI, which lost three wickets by the third over.

For CSK in the ongoing IPL match, the best bowlers were Pathirana (3 for 15 in 4 overs), Deepak Chahar (2/18 from 3 overs) and Tushar Deshpande (2/24, 4 overs) while Ravindra Jadeja (1/37) got the big wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. Pathirana in his four-over spell didn’t concede a single boundary. After opting to bowl, CSK bowlers left MI in disarray, reducing the opposition to 16 for 3 by the end of the third over.

Chahar picked up the wickets of Ishan Kishan (7, 9 balls, 1×4) and MI skipper Rohit Sharma (0, 3 balls) while Tushar Deshpande provided the first breakthrough by removing the dangerous Cameron Green, getting him bowled for 6 (4 balls, 1 four). MI lost three wickets in space of 7 deliveries whilst scoring only 1 run and looked in deep trouble before Surya (26, 22 balls, 3×4) and Wadhera began the rescue act.

Surya and Wadhera added 55 runs in 7 overs and began to look more assured in the middle before Ravindra Jadeja fired a quicker one to dismiss the former. Surya, who regained form in the previous game against Punjab Kings, held the key for MI after the early setbacks, and he looked to be guiding the team towards safety when Jadeja’s faster one got the better of him.

Tim David, of whom much was expected, lasted just 4 balls, scoring two runs before being dismissed by Deshpande. Pathirana, who seems to be getting better with every game, gave away 2 runs in the 18th over and 5 runs in the final over as CSK strangled Mumbai Indians with pace, for a change. The MI batters could not get away the slinger from Sri Lanka in a modest performance.