The Mumbai Indians managed a 10-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings on Friday in Sharjah to climb to the top of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) points table and keep their chances of reaching the playoffs high. Sam Curran’s defiant 52 avoided an embarrassment for CSK as they found 43 of 7 within the first 10 overs and at one point risked being eliminated by the lowest total in the IPL. However, Curran held his ground from one end and hit some limits towards the end of innings to help the team finish 114-for-9 and give CSK bowlers something to defend. Mumbai, however, went about their business in a hurry, reaching the goal of 115 in just 12.2 overs.
It was chaos in Sharjah after Mumbai alternate captain Kieron Pollard chose to enter after winning the draw.
Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah reduced CSK to four wickets by just three runs in the first three overs.
Starter Ruturaj Gaikwad (0), playing in place of Shane Watson, was caught lbw by Boult on the fifth ball of the match before Bumrah got Ambati Rayudu (2) and N Jagadeesan (0) from consecutive deliveries in the second over.
Faf du Plessis (1) was returned by Boult in the next when MS Dhoni (16) and Ravindra Jadeja (7) met in the middle within the first six overs.
Dhoni looked to the counterattack when he got two fours from Bumrah and a six from Rahul Chahar within the first six, but Rahul Chahar managed to catch the CSK captain, even as Dhoni tried to hit another from the ground, to leave CSK. reeling at 30 by 6.
Meanwhile, Jadeja had already hit Boult squarely at Krunal Pandya in the middle of the short wicket to leave Dhoni as the only recognized batsman in the fold.
Deepak Chahar followed his senior professionals to the ward as soon as his cousin Rahul Chahar killed him, Quinton de Kock stumped him by nothing.
Curran, who had been leading the batting in recent games, was pushed to the bottom order and the 22-year-old hit his tail well to push CSK’s score past the 100-run mark.
He added 28 runs with Shardul Thakur (11) for the eighth wicket and 43 with Imran Tahir (13 not out) for the ninth.
Curran hit four fours and two sixes and was the last man on the last ball of innings.
It was pitched by Boult, who finished 4 of 18 and was the best of the Bombay players.
Bumrah got 2 of 25, while Rahul Chahar returned 2 of 22.
In response, the starting pairing of Ishan Kishan and Quinton de Kock stormed the CSK bowling alley, connecting 52 runs in the Powerplay to eliminate any chance of a late CSK resurgence.
Promoted
Kishan hit six fours and five sixes to finish 68 with not just 37 balls, while De Kock was the more moderate of the two but still commanding, hitting 46 without 37 balls.
Mumbai has 14 points from 10 games and appears poised to qualify for the playoffs, while CSK languishes at the bottom of the table.
Topics mentioned in this article
.
