MI VS CSK MATCH 29

Right then, Mumbai's two-game winning streak at the Wankhede in this edition of the Indian T20 League has ended and with that win, Chennai become the team to defeat Mumbai the most number of times at this venue, with 5 wins, joint highest along with Punjab. Another week of stellar cricketing action has flown by and things are starting to heat up. Next up, the new week kicks off with a clash between Bengaluru and Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, 15 April. That game will begin at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT) but you can join us a lot sooner for the build-up. Till then, take care and goodbye!

Matheesha Pathirana is the Player of the Match for his exceptional bowling performance of 4 for 28 in 4 overs. Pathirana says that he was nervous but MS Dhoni came to him and asked him to keep calm and that helped him. Adds that he doesn't mind getting hit and he only thinks about his execution and if he executes well, he will get the rewards. Adds that sometimes he has to change his gameplan and adds that he had a niggle over the last 2 weeks but the staff supported him and he was able to perform in this match.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, the skipper of Chennai says their young wicket-keeper who scored three sixes made a big difference. He adds that it's important to get 10-15 more runs on this kind of wicket, they bowled well but they were happy with the score. Tells that they would have taken Mumbai's Powerplay score any day. Shares on this kind of pitch, it demand skills from both bat and ball. Mentions Matheesha Pathirana, their 'baby Malinga,' bowled exceptionally well. Reckons Ajinkya Rahane was carrying a niggle so it was better for him to open and as a captain, he was happy to come down the lineup.

The Presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, Hardik Pandya won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling first and it seemed like a good decision as Gerald Coetzee got Ajinkya Rahane out pretty early. Chennai had a slowish Powerplay but started to fire and once they lost the wicket of Rachin Ravindra, the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube took full flight. Both scored quick half-centuries and the skipper kept on batting till the end. Jasprit Bumrah was yet again impressive for Mumbai and bowled well at the death too but Hardik Pandya opted to bowl the final over himself and even got a wicket but then went on to concede 20 runs in the final 4 deliveries which eventually was the margin of defeat for Mumbai. It was vintage hitting from MS Dhoni that caused the damage as he hammered three maximums in a row to begin with and picked up a couple of more runs off the final ball. In reply, Mumbai wasted a fine start and one can't help but think that the hitting from MSD in that final over could well be the telling difference.

Shardul Thakur is now down for a chat. Thakur says that Mumbai vs Chennai is known for producing quality cricket and a few individuals did brilliantly but they held their nerve better. Adds that they spoke about keeping it simple and bowling according to the field and not trying to be too smart and it was the same pitch as the last match and when the pitch is repeated here, the slower ones hold better. He then gives credit to the way Matheesha Pathirana bowled and reckons there wasn't much dew in this game and he felt that Rohit Sharma was batting really well and wanted to be brave and make him hit to the bigger side.

Hardik Pandya, the skipper of Mumbai says it was a gettable score but credits Chennai who bowled really well.  Adds Matheesha Pathirana made the difference and overall Chennai were very smart with their plans. Shares there is a man behind the stumps for Chennai who was handling well. Reckons they were on course through to chase it down before Pathirana struck twice in his first over. On not giving the spinners many overs, Pandya says it was slightly about the match-up but he went with what he felt was right. Adds that they are on the road for the next four games, they want to play good cricket and play with the same intensity.

Mumbai will be disappointed with that loss as they let things slip after being in a dominant position both with the bat and earlier with the ball as well. They should have restricted Chennai to about 190 runs but conceded 15 runs or so more and then with the bat, they left too many runs for the death overs. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan put on 70 runs before Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav got out in the space of 3 deliveries. Rohit went on to score a half-century and Tilak Varma reignited the chase with a quickfire cameo. However, Hardik Pandya pushed himself up the order and couldn't get going at all and got out before Tim David hit a couple of sixes and went back as well. Rohit found it difficult to time the ball in the final few overs and faced only 20 balls in the last eight overs scoring 31 runs before which he had scored 71 off 43 balls. But he finished with a century in a losing cause, just the third time this has happened in the history of the Indian T20 League - Yusuf Pathan against Mumbai at Braboune in 2010 and Sanju Samson against Punjab at the Wankhede in 2021 are the other two. Surprisingly, all three have been in Mumbai but Rohit is the only one who stayed unbeaten on 105.

In the battle of the Titans, it is the Yellow of Chennai that has toppled the Blue of Mumbai and with that big win, Chennai got their first points on the road and made it 4 wins out of 6 overall. Chennai were under the pump inside the Powerplay as the opening pair of Mumbai were doing some real damage. However, the introduction of Matheesha Pathirana in the 8th over, turned things around in the blink of an eye as he got two big wickets in his first over and got his side back in the game. Chennai once again let another partnership build before Ruturaj Gaikwad brought Pathirana in and he yet again delivered with a wicket. This was well backed up by the likes of Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande who went for just 5 runs combined in their final overs. In the end, Mustafizur Rahman got hit but got David out and then Pathirana closed things out well.

An excellent bowling performance by Chennai. Too full and outside off, Rohit Sharma pushes it to point for a single. CHENNAI WIN BY 20 RUNS.

Too full and on leg. Nabi gets a faint edge as he looks to flick. This rolls to short fine leg for one.

Two wides! Spills it down the leg side, Rohit Sharma misses his flick and Dhoni fumbles to stop it cleanly. One.

FOUR! Pitches it up on middle, Rohit Sharma steps across and flicks it behind square leg past the fielder for a boundary.

FOUR! Century for Rohit Sharma but not even a smile or small celebration from him. The crowd loved it though. Full and outside off, Rohit Sharma smashes it down to wide long off for a boundary.

Bye! A yorker, going down leg and Nabi fails to get his bat on it. The ball hits Dhoni on his pads and rolls away. One.

Short of a length and outside off. Nabi slashes and misses. That should do. 5 legal deliveries needed.

SIX! Rohit Sharma shakes his head as he hits this one away. He knows this is not his best knock by anymeans. Fuller and around off, Rohit Sharma goes back and tonks it over mid-wicket for a biggie.