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IPL 2021 | MI vs DC: What Experts said as Mumbai's middle-order woes continue

Two in-form teams Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals locked horns on Tuesday night in Chennai. While Rishabh Pant’s DC grabbed a thumping win against Punjab Kings by 6 wickets in their previous encounter, the Rohit Sharma-led MI had dominated Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat them by 13 runs. But as they say there can be only one winner at the end of the contest. 

Though, the two sides looked in some good shape, MI had a slight edge as they had defeated DC in the last four matches on the trot. But the fortunes changed for DC on Tuesday. Call it the new captain Rishabh Pant’s luck or some hard work from the Capitals team, they did defeat MI and pretty comprehensively by 6 wickets and with 5 balls to spare. 

Chasing a target of 138 on a tricky surface, the Delhi franchise lost an early wicket in the form of Prithvi Shaw who was removed by Jayant Yadav after the spinner caught him off his own bowling for 7 off 5 balls. 

But Shaw’s opening partner Shikhar Dhawan continued his purple patch and stitched a stand of 53 runs with former Australia captain and DC’s new recruit Steve Smith who came in at number three. 

Smith and Dhawan were looking steady when stand-in captain Kieron Pollard brought himself into the attack and scalped the Aussie batsman’s wicket for 33 after trapping him in front of the stumps. While Smith departed, Dhawan continued to play his game and eventually notched up 45 off 42 before getting out to Rahul Chahar. 

The situation still looked under control as they needed 38 more to win in just over five overs. But DC captain Pant’s dismissal in the 17th over had the side in a spot of bother. The left-handed batsman miscued a stroke while facing Jasprit Bumrah and gave a catch to Krunal Pandya in the deep for 7 while the team score read 115/4. 

But Lalit Yadav who had come out to bat at number four held the other end strongly and put up an unbeaten partnership of 23 runs with Hetmyer to see DC home. Yadav scored 22* off 25 while Hetmyer was not out for 14 off 9. 

Earlier, Mumbai Indians had a disappointing start to the proceedings after they lost Quinton de Kock early in the innings but skipper Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav came in for the resistance and scored 58 runs for the second wicket before SKY departed for 24 off 15. 

Sharma though continued with his stroke play but Pant’s decision to give the ball to leg-spinner Amit Mishra did the trick for them. Mishra probably put in all the experience that he has to rattle MI’s batting line up. 

He first removed Rohit who was looking dangerous for 44 off 30 and then got off Hardik Pandya a couple of balls later inviting both the batsmen to take the aerial route. Both Rohit and Hardik mistimed their strokes and deposited the ball straight into the hands of Smith at long on. 

The right-arm leggier then scalped the wickets of Ishant Kishan and Kieron Pollard to return with figures of 4/24 in 4 overs. 

Captain’s viewpoints

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma admitted that the batting unit has failed to capitalise on the starts they have been getting and this is happening regularly. “After the start we got we should have batted better in the middle overs. It is happening time and again. We aren't able to capitalize on our starts and we need to understand as a batting unit,” he said.

But Sharma also credited the Delhi Capitals for keeping things tight and in their favour while he also talked about the dew factor and whether it was difficult to grip the ball or not. “But you have to give credit to the Delhi bowlers, they kept it tight and kept taking wickets. We knew dew would come in but we have seen that it's not all that difficult to grip the ball in the last few games. Dew isn't the factor, we need to play smart cricket to win games which we didn't do today. [On his injury] It's only a niggle. It should be fine,” Rohit added. 

Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant hailed Amit Mishra for getting the team back on track after SKY and Rohit had created some pressure on the Delhi side with a steady partnership. “When we started we were a little under pressure. Mishy bhai got us into the game. Bowlers did a great job to restrict them to 136. We like to take it into the ground, take one match at a time,” Pant said. 

The wicket-keeper batsman also praised Lalit Yadav who played a handy knock and also picked up a wicket during the course. “He's a great Indian player we're trying to groom (Lalit Yadav). Can do wonders on pitches like these. What we've learnt is if you keep wickets in hand you can chase any target,” the left-handed aggressive batsman further added. 

Expert Opinion

The cricket pundit and commentator Harsha Bhogle was all praise of the Delhi Capitals for the way they went ahead with the run chase. Bhogle said that dew could be a determining factor but the way DC have played is very sensible. 

Boria Majumdar, a cricket journalist and historian lauded Shikhar Dhawan and Amit Mishra for their match-defining performances. 

But Boria also pointed out the weak point that MI have persisted with so far in the tournament. The historian said that MI batting unit hasn’t been able to capitalise on the starts they have got and the failure of their middle-order has been a cause of concern in this edition. 

Vikrant Gupta had some questions for MI. He too pointed out the middle-order collapse while putting the onus on Hardik Pandya who hasn’t fired in this season. MI had successfully defended a couple of low scores before coming into this match while giving a hard time to the Royal Challengers Bangalore but according to Vikrant bowling can’t really win a team all the matches if they put up a score on the board. 

Mumbai Indians will now play Punjab Kings in Chennai on Friday before flying to Delhi to begin the next leg of the tournament. Delhi Capitals are also left with one game in Chennai where they will face Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. DC will then move to Ahmedabad. 



 

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There are few reasons why Chennai Super Kings are one of the most successful teams in the Indian Premier League. While they are consistent, the CSK team has a habit of learning quickly from their mistakes. The MS Dhoni-led side has just turned the tables for themselves after suffering a defeat in their opening match of the tournament against Delhi Capitals. Dhoni’s men made a fine return to form first with the ball against Punjab Kings restricting them to minimal total and later against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday where the positive aspect was the contributions made by all the batsmen to hand them a good and defendable total. Kolkata Knight Riders have had a totally opposite campaign so far. They began the proceedings on a positive note with a win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad but lost momentum after that to suffer defeats in the next two encounters against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. 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Both Jadeja and Moeen took full advantage of the conditions and the track that did help the spinners a bit at the Wankhede stadium and shared a total of 5 wickets between themselves. In fact, the right-arm off-spinner Ali returned with brilliant figures of 3/7 in 3 overs. Apart from these four, the West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is also a prominent member of Chennai’s bowling arsenal. Bravo is one of the finest bowlers and probably the most intelligent one to bowl in the death overs. He has the ability to deceive the batsmen with his pace and Dhoni’s captaincy skills just add on to that talent. The right-handed medium pace bowler doesn’t let the opponent batsmen cut loose easily and resist the batsmen from scoring runs at a brisk pace in the death overs. One major reason for CSK's high success rate is their fielding. We all saw how Jadeja grabbed four catches and he has been doing that for ages now. CSK have probably ticked all the boxes to be called a “balanced side” for now. They are pretty sorted with their line up and don't really need to make much changes. The only thing that has been hurting them is the opening stand and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s awkwardness while batting. He is evidently not confident while he is out there in the middle. This is probably the only tweak that is required from the CSK management and think tank. Coming down to Kolkata Knight Riders and their “problems”. Well to begin with, the major and the most important cause of concern for KKR is their middle-order batting. While Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana have managed to give the Knight Riders a steady start, the team has missed out on taking the advantage of the opportunities. Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Shakib and Andre Russell haven’t really done much justice to their calibre. Though Russell did try to chip in with some big hits during their last game against RCB but his efforts were not enough to take them over the line. 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The left-handed batsman’s pull shot is on point. Moeen’s contribution doesn’t just end with the bat. He is a handy bowler who can be a surprise package. We witnessed this during the match against the Royals. As soon as the track had something to offer for spinners, Dhoni got Moeen into the act and what followed next was a forgettable side for RR for sure. He spun the web around the Rajasthan batsmen inviting them to attempt glory strokes off his bowling. While David Miller was trapped in front of the stumps by Moeen trying to sweep the ball, Chris Morris and Riyan Parag gave away their wickets after getting caught in the deep. The England all-rounder has certainly filled the void in the CSK team and some credit goes to Dhoni as well for using his services in a brilliant way. Derailed Russ When you talk about Andre Russell, you ought to talk about some brutal knocks unleashed by this cricketer in the past. But from the last IPL edition, Russell has certainly lost that groove for which he was actually known in the business. The aggressive batsman did show a glimpse of his excellence in the previous game against RCB after he took on Yuzvendra Chahal. But that all went in vain as he failed to take his side over the line. Russell might have been struggling with his batting, he unfolded a fine piece of bowling display against the Mumbai Indians after bagging a fifer. The tactics of bowling wide Yorkers pinned around the fourth and fifth stump channel worked pretty well for him in that match as he returned with figures of 5/15 in 2 overs. But his change in technique with the ball went for a toss against RCB when AB de Villiers took up the challenge against the West Indian player. The former South African batsman had probably done his homework properly before coming out to bat. De Villiers totally disrupted Russell’s plans and smacked some good strokes to put him under pressure. This time the West Indian returned with figures of 0/38 in 2 overs. All said and done, KKR need a lot of planning before they come out to lock horns with CSK on Wednesday. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Match Details Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Pitch Report & Toss The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium produced a couple of high-scoring games. The dew is also a major factor in this part of the country. So, defending a total might be a tricky task here. The strip would have something to offer to the batsmen at least in the early stage of the game so if you win the toss bat first. Team News CSK The Chennai Super Kings are pretty sorted with whatever they have in their kitty. The team management and the captain are looking satisfied with the balance they have got and won’t be looking to make much of the changes. But we still might see a change in the opening partners. There is a possibility that Gaikwad faces the axe in the top-order while Robin Uthappa can find a place for himself. KKR The Kolkata Knight Riders have an uphill task to get the momentum back. They are tottering at number fifth spot with just one win and two points under their belt. Eoin Morgan might not make much of the changes in the starting XI but the big guns need to fire and they should fire with all guns blazing. Two possible changes can be made in the team with, one, Kuldeep Yadav coming into the team in place of Harbhajan Singh. Another change that KKR might think of getting is someone like Ben Cutting against a half-fit Andre Russell. This should ideally give them an additional batting depth and a better-suited bowler in a potentially sluggish track. Strongest XI CSK: Robin Uthappa, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar KKR: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell/Ben Cutting, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna Fantasy XI Nitish Rana, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Rahul Tripathi, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Andre Russell, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar