IPL 2019: Qualifier 1, MI vs CSK, Review – Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Chahar unite to ignite Mumbai's championship hopes

The slow start with the bat and sloppy fielding potentially cost CSK the game.

Published - 07 May 2019, 23:17 IST | Updated - 07 May 2019, 23:17 IST

3 Min Read

If there is one team that has troubled the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the last few years, it has to be Mumbai Indians (MI). While the Chepauk has been a fortress for CSK, that hasn’t been the case with MI as the opposition. Since 2012, this is the fifth game that Mumbai won while playing at the Chepauk. Suryakumar Yadav was exceptional with the bat in this match emerging on top in testing conditions.

He has often got off to starts in the tournament but failed to capitalise on them. But this time, he didn’t put a foot wrong. The right-hander had a slight bit of luck on his side and comfortably took his team through. The Mumbai Indians have won five games in a row against CSK and have made it into the playoffs yet again. Chennai will be playing the second qualifier now to test their fortunes yet again.

MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu hustle towards the end as CSK get to 131

Batting first in this encounter, the Super Kings had another dreadful start. Their openers average the lowest amongst all the eight teams and it showed this time as well. On this occasion, it was Faf du Plessis who found his way back to the dugout first after scoring 6 runs off 11 balls. He played a nothing shot off the bowling of Rahul Chahar and dollied one straight to backward point. Suresh Raina also failed to curb his aggressive instinct in this game and tried to hit one out of the park after hitting a four off the free hit earlier in the over.

But the wicket delivery bowled by Jayant Yadav stopped and bounced. Thus, the ball went straight up in the air and the bowler did the catching for himself. Murali Vijay looked extremely stylish during his stay in the middle and played some marvellous shots. However, he couldn’t make it big this time either. The ‘Monk’ danced down the track off the bowling of Rahul. But, the ball this time, turned square and ended up beating him as he got out for run-a-ball 26.

CSK’s run rate was below 6 until the 14th over. MS Dhoni added life to the innings by hitting one six and that was followed by another biggie from Rayudu in the same over. The pair found it tough to hit the big shots with the pitch being extremely slow. It was only in the 19th over that MSD chipped in with two mammoth sixes.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled an excellent final over where he gave just 9 runs as Mumbai restricted Chennai to 131/4. Dhoni got a life on the first ball of the last over as Bumrah bowled a no-ball which was caught. However, the finisher couldn’t make much of a difference and remained unbeaten on 37 off 29 balls while Rayudu scored 42 off 27.

Suryakumar Yadav in the driver’s seat in this tough chase

Mumbai Indians started the chase with a four. However, Rohit Sharma was dismissed off the second ball as he was trapped in front LBW by Deepak Chahar. Soon, some excellent captaincy, field placements from the CSK skipper and good bowling from Harbhajan Singh also saw the end of in-form Quinton de Kock. After these two fell, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan were involved in the rebuilding process. While the former was the aggressor, the latter took his time.

It was all going MI way until Imran Tahir picked up two wickets off consecutive deliveries in the 14th over. While Kishan got out after scoring 28 from 31 balls, Krunal Pandya was on his way back for a golden duck. However, Yadav was in complete control and partnered with Hardik Pandya to take the team through. The no.3 was unbeaten on 71 and did the bulk of the scoring for his team.