Mumbai Indians keep their hopes of reaching the playoff stage alive by beating Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets in the 27th match of VIVO IPL 2018 played at MCA Stadium, Pune. Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited Chennai Super Kings into bat. Despite Rayadu 46, Suresh Raina 75*, Mumbai Indians bowlers restricted CSK to 169 for 5 in 20 overs. While chasing Surya Kumar Yadav, Evin Lewis and Captain Rohit Sharma helped Mumbai win the match.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. Shane Watson and Rayadu began the innings on a steady note with both putting on 26 runs for the first wicket. Watson was dismissed by Krunal Pandya. Suresh Raina and Rayadu played with positive strokes putting pressure on Mumbai Indians bowlers.
At the end of first six overs, Chennai Super Kings scored 51 for 1. After the power play overs, both batsmen hit boundaries with good positive intent. Rayadu continued his brilliant form in the tournament while Raina looked aggressive. The veteran Rayadu was dismissed for 46 runs. Both Rayadu and Raina added 71 runs for the 2nd wicket.
After Rayadu fell, the Mumbai Indian bowlers made a good comeback to restrict Chennai Super Kings scoring. MS Dhoni struggled and scored 26 off 21 balls. MS Dhoni and Raina added 46 runs for the 3rd wicket. Mitchell McClenaghan picked wickets of MS Dhoni and Bravo in one over.
Suresh Raina stayed at one end and reached his 33rd IPL half-century off 35 balls. Raina remained not out on 75 off 45 balls. Chennai Super Kings were restricted to just 169 for 5 in 20 overs. For Mumbai Indians, Mitchell McClenaghan and Krunal Pandya picked 2 wickets each.
Chasing 170 runs, Mumbai Indian openers Surya Kumar looked in aggressive touch while Evin Lewis struggled to time the ball. At the end of 6 overs, Mumbai Indians scored 50 for 0. After the powerplay overs, Harbhajan Singh got the wicket of well-set Surya Kumar Yadav for 44 runs. Both Surya Kumar Yadav and Lewis added 69 runs for the first wicket.
Rohit Sharma came to the crease and played some brilliant strokes. Evin Lewis also played aggressive strokes also. Both of them added 59 runs for the 2nd wicket before Bravo dismissed Lewis for 47 in the 17th over.
Rohit Sharma played a captains knock and completed his half-century off 31 balls. Mumbai Indians won the match by 8 wickets with 2 balls to spare. It keeps their hopes alive of reaching the playoff stage.
MI 170 for 2 in 19.4 overs ( Rohit Sharma 56*, Evin Lewis 47, Surya Kumar Yadav 44, DJ Bravo 1/21, Harbhajan Singh 1/20) beat
CSK 169 for 5 in 20 overs ( Suresh Raina 75*, Rayadu 46, Mitchell McClenaghan 2/26, Krunal Pandya 2/32) by 8 wickets.
CSK captain MS Dhoni said: These types of losses will make you aware what went wrong. We banked upon individual brilliance, as we were 10-15 runs short. Mumbai Indians bowled well in the middle overs, also their spinners also bowled well.
MI captain and Man of the match Rohit Sharma said: Its feel good to be on the winning side after losing close matches. Very much still there in the tournament and wanted to this match desperately. We wanted to be calm and was a perfect game. All three departments were on the spot. This is when you win matches if all 3 departments work together.
With this win, Mumbai Indians moves to 6th place in the points table. In the first match of VIVO IPL, Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians with brilliance from Bravo.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will face Rajasthan Royals in the first match tomorrow at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur while Royal Challengers Bangalore takes on Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in the 2nd match.
