IPL 2019, MI vs CSK: 3 Mistakes which cost the game for Chennai Super Kings
In the first leg of IPL's most hyped encounter, red hot Chennai Super Kings took on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. Mumbai Indians were leading CSK 14-12 in 26 IPL encounters and were hoping to climb up the points table after a disappointing loss against Punjab. On the other hand, CSK came into this match with an unbeaten streak and a well-settled squad. MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first on what looked like a good batting wicket. CSK made one change to their squad with Mohit Sharma coming in place of Mitchell Santner, while for Mumbai, Jason Behrendorff and Rahul Chahar found a place in the starting lineup.
Mumbai Indians began in a cautious manner and soon Quinton de Kock fell to Deepak Chahar. The arrival of Suryakumar Yadav brought some much-needed runs for the Mumbai Indians and at the end of the powerplay, the scorecard read 40-1. Rohit Sharma fell immediately after the powerplay while Yuvraj Singh too departed quickly. Krunal Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav stabilised the Mumbai innings in the middle overs by rotating the strike. Hardik Pandya played a game-changing knock and took Mumbai to a competitive total of 170 in 20 overs.
CSK’s chase got off to a horrible start as the openers departed in successive overs. Suresh Raina looked in good touch but Kieron Pollard’s brilliant diving catch at deep midwicket brought an end to his little cameo. Dhoni-Kedar Jadhav duo failed to keep the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs and the skipper finally succumbed to the mounting pressure. Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja could not contribute much in the end and Mumbai comfortably won by 37 runs. This clinical performance against the table toppers helped Mumbai to become the first team to win 100th games in the IPL. Here are the 3 mistakes committed by CSK in this game,
#1. Poor fielding
MS Dhoni has admitted several times in the past two seasons that fielding is not a strong suit for his team and in a pressure game against Mumbai Indians, their fielding failed miserably and was a crucial factor in the defeat. The age factor also came into play under slippery conditions as many fielders in the CSK team could not even gather the ball properly. Even the usually calm MS Dhoni showed his disappointment as they let Mumbai Indians rotate the strike effectively. Mohit Sharma dropped an absolute sitter which gave a lifeline to Krunal Pandya while Ambati Rayudu gave away some easy runs while fielding in the deep. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians were tight in the field and Pollard’s extraordinary effort to dismiss Raina was the game-changing moment. Bravo’s hamstring injury potentially opens up a spot for a youngster in this line-up and MSD will be hoping that his team commits fewer errors in the field in the upcoming matches.
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