IPL 2022 | A vintage MS Dhoni hands Mumbai their seventh consecutive defeat

The ‘Match 33’ of the Indian Premier League 2022 delivered on all accounts as the high voltage game between the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings saw the defending champions hand Mumbai their seventh consecutive defeat in a row.

Chennai decided to step into the game with two changes to their squad as they chose to bench Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan in favour of Dwaine Pretorius and Mitchell Santner. 

On the other hand, Mumbai had three changes to their playing eleven as they dropped Tymal Mills, Murugan Ashwin and Fabien Allen for Riley Meredith, Hritik Shoukeen and Daniel Sams.

Chennai won the toss and invited Mumbai to bat first. However, the five-time champs had a terrible start as they lost both their openers within the very first over of the game, as skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan were bamboozled by incoming deliveries from Mukesh Chowdhary, leaving their side 2/2 in the first over.

Chowdhary continued his domination over the batters as he then picked up the third wicket of the game as Dewald Brevis edged the ball behind the stumps handing MS Dhoni an easy catch. Chennai dropped two sure-shot opportunities to push Mumbai on the backfoot as skipper Ravindra Jadeja dropped a sitter, giving Suryakumar Yadav a lifeline.

However, the batter could not capitalize on the second chance as he soon joined the others in the dugout after handing Mukesh an easy catch off the bowling of Santner. Tilak Verma and Hritik stabilized the innings for their side with a 38 runs partnership for the fifth wicket. Hritik lost his wicket to Dwayne Bravo, pushing Mumbai to 85/5 in the 14th over.

Kieron Pollard was the next in line, and he smashed Maheesh Theekshana for two boundaries before handing Shivam Dubey a catch straight down the ground just outside the ropes, handing Theekshana his only wicket of the game. Sams soon followed suit as he was found in front of the wickets against Bravo. 

Jaydev Unadkat and Tilak had an unbeaten 35 runs partnership for the eighth wicket that saw the Mumbai Indians post 155 runs on the board at the end of the designated twenty overs. 

Chasing the target of 156 runs on the board, Chennai had an equally terrible start as they lost the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad on the very first delivery, as he handed Tilak an easy catch off Sam’s bowling. Chennai made a change in their batting order as they sent Santner up the order.

However, the move seemed ineffective on all fronts as the Black Cap lost his wicket in the third over as he tried pulling a short ball from Daniel Sams, handing Jaydev a sitter. 

Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayadu had a fifty runs partnership for the third wicket to get the innings back on track before Uthappa picked up the wrong length off Jaydev as he tried to pull the ball away and found Brevis at deep backward square leg. 

Dubey had a short stint on the field as the player had a twenty-two runs partnership alongside Rayadu before edging the ball to Kishan off Sams. Skipper Jadeja was next in line, with Chennai needing 58 runs off the last six overs in the contest. 

Ambati lost his wicket in a crucial situation, pushing Chennai down to just five wickets with 53 runs needed in the last five overs. Meredith was given the sixteenth over, and the bowler justified his captain’s trust as he picked up the wicket of Jadeja, pushing Chennai down the four wickets with 50 runs still needed off the last 26 deliveries.

Dhoni and Pretorius took on Jaydev in the 18th over, scoring 14 runs off him, leaving 29 runs remaining off the last two overs in the contest. Bumrah was terrific with the ball in the penultimate over, giving away just 11 runs, leaving Chennai with 17 runs to chase in the last over.

Jaydev started the over off with a bang as he picked up the wicket of Pretorius off the very first delivery, leaving Chennai 17 runs off the last five deliveries with Bravo on strike. 

MS Dhoni brought the game down the wire with 13 runs off the next four deliveries leaving four runs for the final delivery. However, the legendary player turned the clock back in time with a boundary in the final delivery taking Chennai over the finish line.

Brief Scores 

Mumbai Indians: 155/7 (20 overs)

Tilak Verma 51(43), Suryakumar Yadav 32(31)

Mukesh Chowdhary 19/3 (3), Dwayne Bravo 36/2 (4)

Chennai Super Kings: 146/7 (20 overs)

Ambati Rayadu 40(25), Robin Uthappa 30(25)

Daniel Sams 30/4 (4), Jaydev Unadkat 48/2 (4)