IPL 2019, CSK vs MI: Best captaincy move of the day
A match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians is always a blockbuster clash. These are the two most successful franchises in the history of the IPL as they have won the tournament three times each. MI needed a win tonight to increase the gap between themselves and other contenders for the top four. They had a tough task on their hands as CSK had won each of their five matches at home coming into this game.
The hosts suffered a big blow before the start of the match as they were missing MS Dhoni who was down with the fever. Stand-in captain Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to field first on a slow pitch. After losing his opening partner Quinton de Kock early, Rohit Sharma built a good partnership with Evin Lewis.
Then MI lost their plot in middle overs as the batsmen struggled to hit the big shots. Rohit Sharma looked set to get a big score but he was caught in the deep trying to hit one shot too many. At one stage, reaching a score of 150 looked difficult but the visitors collected 17 off the last over as they finished their innings on 155/4.
Chasing a score of 156 in the absence of MS Dhoni on a pitch like this was never going to be easy. Shane Watson got out in the first over after hitting two boundaries. Suresh Raina was the key for his team but Rohit Sharma had a plan in his mind. The MI captain brought Hardik Pandya in the attack to attack the weak point of Raina's game.
The move paid off as Raina got out on the first ball of the 4th over. Murali Vijay played a good knock but he didn't get any support from other batsmen as CSK kept losing wickets at regular intervals. When Vijay got out for 38, CSK's score read 66/6 and there was no way they could have won the match from that position. Dwayne Bravo and Mitchell Santner played good cameos but it was never going to be enough.
Eventually, MI won the match by 46 runs to rise to 2nd position in the IPL Points Table. On the other hand, CSK who suffered their first defeat at home this season have some work to do if they want to remain first in the standings.