IPL: 3 unforgettable clashes between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians
The inaugural game between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in the 11th edition of Indian Premier League is less than 72 hours away. The game will be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, which has witnessed some epic encounters over a decade. The tickets for this game have been sold out and this promises to be a crackerjack of a contest between two evenly matched sides.
The two teams are neck and neck when it comes to head to head stats. In 22 IPL games played between each other, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have won 11 games each. This stat pretty much summarizes how evenly matched both teams are, and why this rivalry is considered as the biggest rivalry in the history of IPL. Both the teams have clashed against each other in 3 IPL Finals (2010, 2013 and 2015) in which Mumbai triumphed twice (2013 and 2015).
Even in the group stages, both the teams have produced some nail-biting encounters. Let us look at the top 3 clashes between both the teams.
#3 Chennai win a high-scoring thriller (2008)
This was the first face-off between the 2 teams played at Chepauk. On a flat deck, Mumbai Indians chose to field first. Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden opened the innings and got the team to a flying start scoring at more than 10 runs per over before Parthiv was dismissed in the 4th over with the score at 34. Matthew Hayden partnered with Suresh Raina and the pair added 104 runs for the 3rd wicket in 62 balls.
Suresh Raina was dismissed in the 15th over with the score at 143-3. Skipper M.S Dhoni joined the Aussie left-hander at the crease and both the batsmen started smashing the Mumbai bowlers all over the park. Hayden cut loose after completing his 50 and the duo added 51 runs in 3 overs before Hayden was run-out for a brilliant 81 of 46 deliveries, which consisted of 12 boundaries and 2 maximums. Chennai reached a solid total of 208/5 with Dhoni scoring a quick fire 30 off 16 balls.
In reply, Mumbai Indians had a poor start with Luke Ronchi getting run-out in the very first over. Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 4 fours before skying one to mid-on and was dismissed for 20. Shaun Pollock was sent up the order and he, along with Robin Uthappa, kept the chase going. Uthappa, in particular, was very aggressive and the pair added 51 runs for the 3rd wicket before Uthappa was bowled off the bowling of Joginder Sharma. Shaun Pollock was dismissed a couple of overs later and the required rate jumped to 13.75. 110 runs were required off 8 overs and Dwayne Bravo showed intent by smashing rookie Palani Amarnath for 3 fours bringing the equation to 79 required off 36 balls. Bravo was dismissed in the 16th over and the equation was left with 75 needing of 30 balls. Playing his second game Musavir Khote didn’t last long and the match was getting out of reach for Mumbai Indians.
Harbhajan Singh walked out to accompany Abhishek Nayar with 62 runs needing of the last 4 overs. The duo started smashing the Chennai bowlers all over the park. 17 runs were scored off the 17th over followed by 13 runs in the 18th. 28 runs were required of the remaining 2 overs and Muttiah Muralitharan was handed over the ball. The Sri Lankan off-spinner picked up the important wicket of Harbhajan Singh and the equation was down to 19 runs were required off the last over.
2007 T20 World cup hero Joginder Sharma was given the job to defend 19 in the last over. Abhishek Nayar smashed 2 boundaries of the first 2 deliveries brought the target to 11 of 4 balls. Nayar again got the strike on the 4th ball with 8 runs required. He couldn’t connect on the 5th ball which was a dot ball and the equation was down to an improbable 8 runs needed off the last ball. Joginder Sharma conceded only a single, which gave Chennai a 6 run victory over Mumbai.
For his 46-ball 81, Matthew Hayden was awarded Man of the Match.