In the phase 2 opener of the IPL 2021, Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by 20 runs. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s fiery knock of 88 in the first innings helped CSK set up a defendable target of 157. Mumbai Indians fell short of the total in the run-chase and lost eight wickets. CSK 156/6, Ruturaj Gaikwad 88, Adam Milne 2/21. Mumbai Indians 136/8, Saurabh Tiwary 50, DJ Bravo 3/25.
The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings had a disastrous start to their innings as they lost their first three wickets for seven within the first three overs along with Ambati Rayudu back in the dugout as retired hurt. CSK lost the likes of Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Moeen Ali in the powerplay. Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja’s sensible partnership of 81 runs got CSK back on track. The CSK opener shifted gears with every passing over and kept the scoreboard ticking. DJ Bravo’s eight-ball cameo which included three sixes provided the much-needed attack at the back-end of the innings. Gaikwad attacked Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult in the death overs and finished off things well in the first innings.
In the absence of their regular skipper, debutant Anmolpreet Singh opened for Mumbai Indians with Quinton de Kock. Both openers looked good at the crease but couldn’t provide a start in the powerplay to MI. The defending champions lost their top three batsmen in the powerplay, Mumbai kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Their stand-in captain Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan and Krunal Pandya couldn’t contribute much with the bat. Saurabh Tiwary was MI’s saviour in this match as he batted till the end and got the team as close as possible to the CSK’s total.
Bravo was the pick among the bowlers for Chennai with three wickets in his allotted four overs. Deepak Chahar pocketed two wickets while Josh Hazlewood and Shardul Thakur grabbed one wicket each.
For MI, Boult, Milne and Bumrah had two wickets each to their names.
With this victory, CSK has acquired the number one position with 12 points while MI are at the fourth spot with eight points in the IPL 2021 points table. Gaikwad was adjudged Man of the Match for his significant 88 off 58 balls, his innings decorated with four sixes and nine fours.