Chennai Super Kings hand Mumbai Indians their third straight loss

Dubai, April 25 (IANS) Defending champions Mumbai Indians slumped to their third straight defeat, losing to Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Friday.

Mumbai Indians’ batting woes continued as they were restricted to 141 for seven in 20 overs largely thanks to some terrific bowling by Mohit Sharma, who took four wickets for 14 runs in four overs.

A swashbuckling 71 off 53 balls from Brendon McCullum took Super Kings to 142 for three in 19 overs, giving them their third win from four matches.

West Indian Dwayne Smith (29) and McCullum gave Chennai a flying start with a 57-run partnership from just 38 balls.

Suresh Raina (1) fell to the guile of his former India teammate Harbhajan Singh, which gave Mumbai Indians a glimpse of hope.

McCullum, though, had other ideas and along with South African Faf du Plessis (20) forged a 53-run partnership for the third wicket to take his team to the brink of victory.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (14 not out) added the finishing touches as Chennai eased home with six balls to spare.

Earlier, Michael Hussey’s (1) dismal run with the bat continued as he was castled by former Aussie teammate Ben Hilfenhaus in the second over.

Aditya Tare made a quick-fire 23 but soon became Mohit Sharma’s first victim.

Rohit Sharma (50) and Corey Anderson (38) threatened to take the game away from the Super Kings, but both were dismissed in quick succession before they could do any real damage.

Then, an impressive show of death bowling by Mohit Sharma saw Mumbai Indians lose four wickets for just seven runs as they slumped to 127 for seven.

Zaheer Khan and C.M. Gautam scored 14 runs off seven balls in the end to give the Mumbai total some respectability.

Brief Scores:

Mumbai Indians: 141 for seven in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 50, Corey Anderson 38; Mohit Sharma 4-14, Ben Hilfenhaus 2-39)

Chennai Super Kings: 142 for three in 19 overs (Brendon McCullum 71 not out, Dwayne Smith 29; Harbhajan Singh 2-27, Pragyan Ojha 1-25)