Team Chennai got off to a winning start and continued from where they left off in the first half of this 14th edition of the Indian T20 League. They beat their nemesis Team Mumbai by 20 runs to kickstart this second leg with a win.
It was Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten 88 that pushed Chennai to 156/6. Mumbai lost the plot after having reduced the MS Dhoni-led side to 24/4. Mumbai faltered with the bat and never got going. The big guns failed and eventually, the defending champions were restricted to 136/8.
After this win, Chennai jumped to the top of the points table. They now have 12 points from eight games (six wins and two losses). This was Mumbai’s fifth loss this season and now, their campaign seems to be slightly wobbly.
Here are the talking points from the match.
The Kiwi pace duo of Trent Boult and Adam Milne wreak havoc in the powerplay
In the first half of the Indian T20 League 2021, Mumbai struggled in the powerplay. They had one of the best powerplay bowlers in Trent Boult and despite that, they could pick up just four wickets in 42 overs across seven games. However, those numbers were put to rest in the very first game on resumption.
Trent Boult and Adam Milne bowled superbly in the powerplay and picked up four wickets to rock Chennai early. Trent Boult was the first one to strike as he got rid of Faf du Plessis in the very first over of the game. It was Boult’s 10th wicket in the first over of an innings since the start of the Indian T20 League in 2020. Adam Milne backed him up as he dismissed the dangerous Moeen Ali in his first over.
Suresh Raina came out swinging and didn’t last long as Boult scalped his 20th powerplay wicket since the start of last year’s Indian T20 League. Milne got a touch lucky with MS Dhoni’s wicket who timed the pulled shot well but found the sole fielder on the boundary on the leg-side.
C were reduced to 24/4 at the end of the powerplay and were already playing catch-up. If not for Ruturaj Gaikwad’s heroics, the three-time champions would’ve ended up with a hugely under-par total.
Ruturaj Gaikwad carries his bat
Chennai had a torrid start as they were reduced to 24/4 at the end of the powerplay overs. Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali were dismissed for ducks, following which Ambati Rayudu was hit on the elbow and walked away retired hurt. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni mustered seven runs together, but at 24-4, Chennai were in danger of being bowled out and were under immense pressure.
However, Ruturaj Gaikwad batted beautifully and carried his bat to take Chennai to a fighting total of 156. He was batting on 15 off 16 balls when Dhoni was dismissed on the last ball of the sixth over. He reached 26 off 30 deliveries at the end of the 11th over as Chennai crawled to 48/4. Gaikwad then decided to up the ante and took the spinners (Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar) on and found the boundaries consistently.
At the end of the 15th over, Chennai got to 87/4 and Gaikwad was batting on 46. The Maharashtra-born batsman then cut loose and took the attack against the Mumbai pacers. He struck Kieron Pollard for a couple of boundaries before launching Jasprit Bumrah for a six. In the 19th and 20th over, he hit two fours and as many sixes, which lifted Chennai past 150. Dwayne Bravo’s three sixes provided some great support as well but it was largely Gaikwad’s unbeaten 88 that took Chennai to a fighting total.
The big batting guns fail for Mumbai
157 was not a big target to chase and Mumbai needed a tad under eight runs an over. They got a decent start as well as Quinton de Kock looked fluent before Deepak Chahar snapped him LBW in the third over of the game. Anmolpreet Singh hit a few attractive boundaries before Chahar knocked him over to give Chennai the edge in the powerplay.
However, Mumbai had enough batting in the tank to chase it down despite being reduced to 41/2 in the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have been impressive and they have also made a mark in the Indian team already. Kieron Pollard has been Chennai’s tormentor for long now and he had even pulled off a 219-run heist in the first half of the season against this very team.
But none of them could fire. Suryakumar was out for three as he tried lofting Shardul Thakur over mid-off and holed out. Kishan drove one straight to short cover on the very next delivery after Dhoni made the field change. Pollard did look dangerous but Josh Hazlewood got him LBW for 15 before Krunal was runout for 3.
Captaincy blunder or the drop – what cost Mumbai the game?
Mumbai had a terrific start to this game. They had Chennai on the ropes and picked up four wickets in the powerplay. Trent Boult and Adam Milne bowled three overs each in the powerplay. Jasprit Bumrah bowled the seventh over of the innings and bowled a fine over, conceding just three runs.
However, strangely, instead of going for the kill, Pollard took Bumrah off after one over and saved him for the death. He brought himself on in the eighth over before getting the spin duo of Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya. That may have just allowed Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja some breathing space and allowed them to get their eye in.
Also, Gaikwad was given a life when he was batting on 19. De Kock spilt a regulation chance off Chahar on the last ball of the ninth over. Chennai were 35/4 at that stage and the game could’ve been done and dusted, but his heroics allowed the team to post a match-winning score.
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