Chennai Beats Mumbai Indians while Sachin Tendulkar gets hurt
In another pulsating encounter of the Indian Premier League the Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by 24 runs.
Batting first at the Chidambram stadium in Chennai, the hosts posted a challenging total of 165 for the loss of 4 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Interestingly the highest score by a Chennai batsman was a paltry 35, as almost all the batsmen contributed with useful twenties and thirties to propel the hosts to a total beyond the 150 run mark. Skipper MS Dhoni was the second best contributor scoring a stroke filled 31, while Suresh Badrinath provided the late impetus to the innings with 30 runs of a mere 22 balls, Badrinath’s innings included 4 fours in all.
Suresh Raina scored 23, while Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay the centurion from the last match managed 14 runs each.
The Mumbai Indians generally kept a tight leash on the Chennai Super Kings who had smashed the Rajashtan Royals to the tune of a 240 run plus total in their last encounter. The hosts succeeded in clearing the boundary just twice in their innings, with Hayden, and Raina hitting one six each.
For the Indians their powerful bowling line-up was at the fore again, with Kevin Pollard proving to be an unlikely hero with his medium pacers claiming figures of 2 for 27 in his four over quota.
The chase for the Mumbai Indians did not seem much of a challenge for a team that has in their ranks arguably the greatest batsman of all time Sachin Tendulkar.
The master blaster started the chase cautiously as 46 runs were posted on the board in the opening partnership between him and Suresh Dhawan, the left-handed Dhawan fell for 16 in the seventh over.
In a body blow to the Indians Tendulkar retired hurt with the total at 62 in the ninth over of the innings, the captain of the Mumbai Indians, suffered cramps after contributing 45 runs off only 35 balls, with six fours.
Perhaps after 20 years of international cricket, Tendulkar’s body is finally giving in! His departure meant that the Indians needed 104 of the last eleven overs.
The Indians failed to sustain the pressure losing six wickets for the addition of only 24 runs, as the chase withered away, the match was all but over when the eighth wicket fell with only 105 runs on the board.
The middle-order comprising of Bravo, Pollard, Tiwary, Rayudu, Satish and Mclaren had no answer to the Chennai Super Kings attack.
Ashwin, and Sri lankan import Thilan Tushara captured two sclaps each, conceding only 22 and 16 runs respectively.
With the total at 105 for 8, “turbanator” Harbhajan Singh slammed a rapid fire 33 off only 23 balls his innings included three sixes, and two fours, yet it was too little too late for the Mumbai Indians.
They were restricted to 141 for 9 in their 20 overs, handing a 24 run win to the hosts, who have now made a grand comeback in the tournament after a string of defeats.
Suresh Rania was declared the man of the match for his all-round show, in the crucial encounter.
Despite the defeat the Mumbai Indians, still sit pretty at the top of the ranking with seven wins from a total of nine matches.
The Chennai Super Kings have now somewhat resurrected their campaign, and still have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals, they are currently placed at the fourth spot in the eight team league, with five wins from ten matches.
Tags: