MI and CSK starred in an all-ages thriller in last year’s finale, when Rohit Sharma’s team emerged as the most successful in IPL’s short history.
Now we can argue about this or just submit to the statistics: there has been no greater rivalry in the IPL than that between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. The two teams have won seven titles combined from the 12 IPL seasons played so far. They have headlined four finals and played another five playoff games. In games in neutral venues, the showdown sits at 5-5, but the four-time champion Mumbai Indians lead 18-12 in all games, including two CLT20 games.
Along the way, the two teams have played some memorable matches. Here’s a quick throwback to six of the best.
1. Setting up the field – DY Patil Stadium, IPL 2010
The 2010 final was played in the context of Lalit Modi’s imminent departure from the tournament he created and his subsequent exile from BCCI. CSK helped himself to a 168/5 par total on the back of an undefeated 35-ball 57 from Suresh Raina. In response, the Mumbai Indian think tank responded with one flawed strategy after another. He started off playing Abhishek Nayar at number 3. If that wasn’t enough, they sent Harbhajan Singh at four while Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, JP Duminy and Kieron Pollard waited. The logic, it was later explained, was that they wanted to prevent the mighty Pollard from taking on the CSK troika of spinners.
The punt meant Pollard came in at bat with a necessary 55 of 24. He hit 22 from an over thrown by Doug Bollinger but fell on the 19 over when MS Dhoni put Matthew Hayden in a very straight middle (he also had a long-off) and Pollard found the fielder with a rush of blood to gift wrap CSK’s inaugural title.
2. Pollard stands tall – Chepauk, IPL 2013
The crowd favorite Pollard made up for his earlier slip in this 2013 game between the sides at MA Chidambaram Stadium, clinching a thrilling nine-run win for the visitors almost on his own. It was the season of Pondulkar (Ponting + Tendulkar) and Mumbai had yet to become the steel unit that Rohit Sharma would lead to the title. Here at Chepauk, they had shamefully slipped to 83 for 6 when Pollard joined forces with Harbhajan Singh to guide a comeback. The Trinidadian showed unusual restraint, playing up to 19 points. He more than recovered from the other 19 he faced, finishing undefeated on 57 of 38 balls to give Mumbai 148 to defend.
CSK shot itself in the foot in pursuit and gasped at 66/5 when MS Dhoni took over. Even when her teammates returned to the cabin, Dhoni kept fighting and brought the equation to 40 out of 18. He then looted 17 from Pollard to make 23 out of 12. That became 12 out of 6 when Mitchell Johnson also disappeared over the stands. . After the first ball of Munaf Patel’s final finale, Dhoni attempted a quick move to a long ball and appeared to have landed another six until Pollard, unsurprisingly, jumped up and completed a strong catch to silence the home crowd.
Dhoni turned to Negi with IM needing 40 of 18. Then Hardik caused chaos …
3. Welcome, Mr. Pandya – Chepauk, IPL 2015
This 2015 IPL match in Chennai launched one Hardik Pandya into the spotlight in an 8-ball space. It was also one of those rare games where MS Dhoni openly acknowledged that he made a tactical mistake. It was a typical late-season match at Chepauk, where 160 was even and the spinners dominated. CSK hit 158 and used R Ashwin and R Jadeja to drown Mumbai ‘s chase through intermissions, so much so that Captain Rohit Sharma made a minute 22 ball 18. When he was fired on the first ball of the 18 over, he repeatedly He waved his hand toward the dressing room as he walked away.
He would later reveal that he was summoning Pandya to be sent to bat before Harbhajan Singh, who was ready to use. With 30 needed to score in the final two overs, Dhoni accepted a call to pitch to Pawan Negi for the 19 over with overs from Mohit Sharma and Ashish Nehra remaining. Negi, who was cheap until then, ended up conceding four sixes in one over, three of which were hit by the scrawny 21-year-old, and MI took the win in the next over, ending the 10-game winning streak of the CSK at home. A new IPL hero was born.
4. Only three balls for Dr. Smith – Wankhede Stadium, 2012 IPL
The 2012 meeting between IM and CSK at Wankhede Stadium featured a stellar turn from a player that has resulted in both Mumbai Blue and Chennai Yellow. Before CSK saw value in Dwayne Smith, the starter, he played as an all-rounder and a No. 6 hitter for the Mumbai Indians. Here, chasing CSK’s 173rd, the hosts were heading for victory after a 126-run bleacher in the second wicket between Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma. However, from 134/1, Mumbai suffered an inexplicable collapse and entered the end of the chase needing 16 to win.
Ben Hilfenhaus kept Smith to a single on the first ball and then cleared Lasith Malinga on the next. When RP Singh squeezed a ball for more cover and slipped away for a single, the equation read 14 of 3. Sure enough, Hilfenhaus needed one more good ball to close out the game. As luck would have it, he delivered a low, full pitch that Smith hit the stands with six. He then passed another low pitch under the bowler for four. Hilfenhaus came back for one last try with a yorker and threw a half volley at the stump that Smith drilled into the ground for another four, prompting the Mumbai dugout to empty to the ground for a league game. This game also featured a famous gem from Dhoni’s press conference: “Not all bowlers can play yorkers in the end.”
CSK announced its re-entry from a two-year ban on some style …
5. Bravo magic and a jumping Jadhav – Wankhede Stadium, IPL 2018
This was a narrative for the big screen and rightly so it became a documentary later. CSK were returning after a two-year suspension and faced their biggest rivals in their first game. In their two years away, Mumbai had leapt ahead of the IPL rankings with a third title. CSK’s sentimental affinity for their old heads at the auction table earned them the nickname “Dad’s Army,” which they lived up to for much of the game. Mumbai scored 165 and had CSK at 105 for 7. With overs from Mustafizur Rahman and Jasprit Bumrah at the time of death, this game was over.
Dwayne Bravo, however, was not given the memo that everyone else at the Wankhede was reading. He hit two sixes and four to Mitchell McClenaghan in the 18th and then launched a brutal offensive against Mumbai’s top bowler of the kill, Jasprit Bumrah. Bravo hit Bumrah for three sixes and took a two before falling off the last ball of 19 over for an impressive 68 of 30 balls. CSK needed 7 from the final to win, but they were down nine and needed Kedar Jadhav to limp with a torn hamstring.
After playing three points, Jadhav chose the only option available to him and took Mustafizur Rahman by a six over thin leg. He punched the offside ring for an upcoming four-ball, setting the tone for a number of fairy tales over the course of the season.
6. Watson, Malinga and a final for all ages – RGI Stadium, IPL 2019
“It was really fun to see both teams just passing the trophy from one team to another. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, the team that made a minor mistake won,” said MS Dhoni after CSK lost another final IPL, this watching MI regain the mantle of the most successful franchise.
If anything, the bug-ridden game only added to the drama quotient. But this game was more than just two elite teams failing in a title game. Dhoni was involved with his astute tactical interaction, as well as a technology debate when he was declared exhausted. Where one icon, Pollard, stepped forward with a 25 bal 41, another, Raina, had a game to forget.
It was conveniently reduced to two other veterans, Malinga and Watson. The latter, bloodied knee and all, had thrown Krunal Pandya for a trio of six and then found that a benevolent foul from Quinton de Kock had left him metaphorically grabbing an ear from that gleaming trophy. Then Malinga stood on top of his bowling mark, already looted by 42 of his three overs on the night, with a bit of magic still in his whip. Watson’s physical struggles overcame him and Shardul Thakur had to score 2 on the last ball. Malinga found the perfect slowball yorker to plumb in front of stumps, crowning wild scenes of joy from those in blue.
Do you have a favorite IM v CSK match that is not on this list? Send them to us at [email protected]
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