Kieron Pollard made mistake by not going for the kill with pacers, while MS Dhoni was sharp in his captaincy throughout: Dale Steyn

Chennai Super Kings made a brilliant restart in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, handing a 20-run defeat to arch-rivals Mumbai Indians to get to the top of the points table. Having set a 157-run target, CSK did not always look the favourite in the contest, however, Mumbai’s continuous struggle for momentum in their chase meant that they fell comfortably short in the end.

Further, the absence of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya did not help their cause either. Reacting to their defeat, former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn reckoned that the lack of partnership hurt Mumbai, while Saurabh Tiwary’s half-century knock did not assist his team owing to the strike rate at which it came. Notably, Tiwary was the lone fighter from the Mumbai lineup but ended up consuming 40 balls to reach his fifty.

MS Dhoni was very clever in his captaincy: Dale Steyn

“Mumbai Indians just lost wickets regularly, in funny ways. No one got quite going. Saurabh Tiwary too scored 50 off 40. It almost looks pedestrian because he did not get those big shots or got flying in the latter overs. But if he had one or two guys with him, you’re knocking those runs, 120 balls in a T20 game, only needing 150. So, that was a strange innings by Mumbai, but some clever bowling by Chennai, and clever captaincy,” Steyn told ESPNcricinfo.

Steyn further highlighted how Kieron Pollard missed the trick by not continuing with the pacers when Mumbai had reduced CSK to 24/4 at one stage. “One little mistake there by Pollard when he could have gone for the kill, [but he] brought on the spinners, allowed CSK to come back into the game and allowed them to build some momentum. On the contrast of that side, Dhoni [was] very clever, used the seamer really well, and brought the spinner when he needed to get through the overs,” the former pacer added.

Chennai Super Kings will next meet Royal Challengers Bangalore in Sharjah on September 24, while Mumbai Indians will face Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi a day before on September 23.