IPL 2021 | CKS vs MI: Hits and Flops as Bravo, Gaikwad help Chennai drub Mumbai in UAE leg opener

It was a perfect display of what the people even slightly associated with the Indian Premier League have come to know of over the years- the Chennai Super Kings classical- looking like they are not going to make it, staging a comeback with the bat and then their bowling defending a total of 165 as if it were 195, winning at the end quite comprehensively. 

While this was a miss in the last edition of the IPL when it happened in UAE, the old fox, MS Dhoni made sure that this time around it came back. And came it did, that too in the same style as in the very first match of the UAE leg of the IPL, the Super Kings beat their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians by 20 runs and thereby overtook Delhi Capitals to reach the top of the points table based on superior run rate, as both teams are now tied at 12 points each from eight games played. 

There were many heroes for CSK in this win and many a flop stars for MI in their fourth loss of the season. All of them would be discussed in detail in the section called Hits and Flops. 

Hits 

Ruturaj Gaikwad

There could be a no bigger hit than the Chennai opener who played through the storm and guided the boat what could be called ‘near the shores’ if not safe harbours, courtesy of some very composed batting. He scored 88 off just 58 balls even as the wickets fell like a pack of cards at the other end at the start of the Super Kings innings. 

Gaikwad added 81 runs with Ravindra Jadeja for the fifth wicket which was essentially the sixth wicket as Ambati Rayudu had returned to the pavilion as retired hurt alongside four genuine dismissals.  After playing it slowly, the 24-year-old Punekar hit top gear at the death and having completed his fifty in 41 balls, scored 37 runs in the next 17 balls. He together with Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur managed to gather 51 runs off the last 20 balls of the CSK inning. 

Dwayne Bravo

The second name and very deservingly so in the list is of West Indian ‘Champion’ Bravo, who not only added crucial 23 runs off just eight deliveries with the bat but also took three important wickets to restrict Mumbai to 136 and help Chennai win the game. 

Removing Ishan Kishan was an important phase in the defence of the runs and then the 37-year-old came back and bowled the final over too, taking two wickets in it and finishing with figures of 3-25 with the ball. After Gaikwad, Bravo was surely the best performer for the Super Kings

Deepak Chahar

Wen Mumbai got off to a relatively good start with Quinton de Kock and Anmolpreet Singh hammering the more fancied CSK pacer, Josh Hazlewood all over the park, Deepak Chahar curtailed their speed courtesy of a pitch outswinger, which swung back into left-handed de Kock, hitting right at middle and leg, and thus the big fish was caught. 

Although Chahar usually bowled all his overs on the trot during the India leg of the IPL, even after getting Anmolprret out in his thyroid over, skipper Dhoni conserved Chahar for the death. And even though he showed great signs of dehydration and cramps, Chahar completed the 18th over, giving away only 10 runs and also creating a chance which went begging, thereby repaying the faith that his captain had shown. 

Flops

Kieron Pollard

The biggest flop of the day was Mumbai Indians, Kieron Pollard, as he messed up the bowling order and instead of going for the kill when he had the Super Kings reeling at 24-5 with the Mumbai pacer making the ball talk, he completely removed pacers from the attack and gave a freebie to Jadeja and Gaikwad by operating with spinners until they settled down. 

While that was his mistake while fielding, in batting too, just as Mumbai looked like getting some momentum with a 29 run stand between him and Saurabh Tiwary, he played across the line to Hazlewood and not only lost the momentum, but also his team’s chances of winning the game. 

Suryakumar Yadav

Having represented India at the senior level in ODIs, T20Is and being drafted into the Test squad too alongside being an experienced and trustworthy member of the Mumbai set-up, it was expected of Surya to play more responsibly than he did. 

Especially under the circumstances that senior pros like regular skipper Rohit Sharm and Hardik Panday were not available and Quinton de Kock’s wicket was already gone, the shot that Yadav played to get out could never be justified. He played a check inside outdrive that was caught brilliantly by du Plessis at the mid-off. 

This was the last meeting between the two most followed rivals at the league stage of this year’s IPL and after this win by CSK, the tally stands at one each.  While CSK now has five days rest and will face RCB in their next encounter on September 24th, Mumbai play the Knight Riders on 23rd.