IPL 2019: Match 44, CSK vs MI - Who Said What

The Mumbai Indians (MI) continued to have a lid on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). They also continued their winning run over the hosts at the Chepauk and this time it was a thumping 46-run win for MI. CSK missed three of their top players Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni and Faf du Plessis in all the departments as there were lapses on the field as well.

Batting first, the visitors rode on Rohit Sharma’s scintillating half-century. He went on to score 67 runs off just 49 balls and the knock remained on top with the pitch deteriorating with every passing ball. Evin Lewis also batted well to score 32 and the second half of Mumbai’s innings was dominated by the bowlers completely.

CSK came back well with Mitchell Santner picking both the aforementioned batsmen and the run-rate came down drastically. Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard tried their best to up the ante in the last few days. But the death bowling was too good for them as MI could post 155 runs for the loss of four wickets after 20 overs which looked under par at that stage.

Mumbai choke CSK

The chase didn’t start well for CSK at all with Shane Watson going back to the hut in the very first over. The spinner Krunal Pandya was introduced in the second over itself by Rohit and the turn put the doubts in the batsman’s mind. CSK batsmen could never adapt to the conditions well as the wickets kept on tumbling.

At the other end, Murali Vijay, playing his first game of the season, rode his luck to score 38 runs but frankly, he never look settled on the pitch. Eventually, his wicket fell and that proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the home team. Santner and Dwayne Bravo played a few big shots but they were also sent back soon and CSK were bundled out for 109 runs in the 18th over.

Man of the Match and Mumbai Indians skipper, Rohit Sharma said:

It was better to lose the toss, we were going to chase as well. We knew whether we bat or bowl first, we have to play good cricket. We can’t control the toss. It was a great effort from the boys. We had to scrape every run and every wicket.

He’s (Rahul Chahar) a confident young man. His execution plans are very clear and it makes my job easier. He’s got variations and skills. He’s a good prospect for not just MI, but to India as well.

I was hitting well, wasn’t converting into big scores. I just kept backing myself. Today was the day. It’s a massive boost if he’s (Dhoni) not around. He was sick, uncontrollable. It was a great effort from us. We played some excellent cricket.

We are not yet there. We have to be at it. Next three – two against KKR and one against SRH. As a team when we go forward, we are clear what to do. We want more good days than bad days. We have learnt from our losses.

Chennai Super Kings skipper, Suresh Raina said:

We didn’t bat really well and kept losing wickets every 2-3 overs, that cost us the game. We need to take responsibility as a batting unit. Our bowling has been amazing throughout the tournament. 155 was still chaseable. We lost a lot of wickets; in the powerplay and the middle overs.

Mumbai played really well. You still need to go out there and take a few balls, need to plan which bowler you are going to attack. We have been losing lot of wickets in the powerplay. We need to sit and decide what to do. Still a long way to go, two games, one or two wins and we go top of the table.

We haven’t done well as a batting unit, need to regroup with the team. We have the power-hitters and experience, need to relax as a batting unit and hopefully things fall in place.

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