IPL: 3 unforgettable clashes between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians

The inaugural game between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in the 11th edition of Indian Premier League is less than 72 hours away. The game will be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, which has witnessed some epic encounters over a decade. The tickets for this game have been sold out and this promises to be a crackerjack of a contest between two evenly matched sides.

The two teams are neck and neck when it comes to head to head stats. In 22 IPL games played between each other, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have won 11 games each. This stat pretty much summarizes how evenly matched both teams are, and why this rivalry is considered as the biggest rivalry in the history of IPL. Both the teams have clashed against each other in 3 IPL Finals (2010, 2013 and 2015) in which Mumbai triumphed twice (2013 and 2015).

Even in the group stages, both the teams have produced some nail-biting encounters. Let us look at the top 3 clashes between both the teams.

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#3 Chennai win a high-scoring thriller (2008)

This was the first face-off between the 2 teams played at Chepauk. On a flat deck, Mumbai Indians chose to field first. Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden opened the innings and got the team to a flying start scoring at more than 10 runs per over before Parthiv was dismissed in the 4th over with the score at 34. Matthew Hayden partnered with Suresh Raina and the pair added 104 runs for the 3rd wicket in 62 balls.

Suresh Raina was dismissed in the 15th over with the score at 143-3. Skipper M.S Dhoni joined the Aussie left-hander at the crease and both the batsmen started smashing the Mumbai bowlers all over the park. Hayden cut loose after completing his 50 and the duo added 51 runs in 3 overs before Hayden was run-out for a brilliant 81 of 46 deliveries, which consisted of 12 boundaries and 2 maximums. Chennai reached a solid total of 208/5 with Dhoni scoring a quick fire 30 off 16 balls.

In reply, Mumbai Indians had a poor start with Luke Ronchi getting run-out in the very first over. Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 4 fours before skying one to mid-on and was dismissed for 20. Shaun Pollock was sent up the order and he, along with Robin Uthappa, kept the chase going. Uthappa, in particular, was very aggressive and the pair added 51 runs for the 3rd wicket before Uthappa was bowled off the bowling of Joginder Sharma. Shaun Pollock was dismissed a couple of overs later and the required rate jumped to 13.75. 110 runs were required off 8 overs and Dwayne Bravo showed intent by smashing rookie Palani Amarnath for 3 fours bringing the equation to 79 required off 36 balls. Bravo was dismissed in the 16th over and the equation was left with 75 needing of 30 balls. Playing his second game Musavir Khote didn’t last long and the match was getting out of reach for Mumbai Indians.

Harbhajan Singh walked out to accompany Abhishek Nayar with 62 runs needing of the last 4 overs. The duo started smashing the Chennai bowlers all over the park. 17 runs were scored off the 17th over followed by 13 runs in the 18th. 28 runs were required of the remaining 2 overs and Muttiah Muralitharan was handed over the ball. The Sri Lankan off-spinner picked up the important wicket of Harbhajan Singh and the equation was down to 19 runs were required off the last over.

2007 T20 World cup hero Joginder Sharma was given the job to defend 19 in the last over. Abhishek Nayar smashed 2 boundaries of the first 2 deliveries brought the target to 11 of 4 balls. Nayar again got the strike on the 4th ball with 8 runs required. He couldn’t connect on the 5th ball which was a dot ball and the equation was down to an improbable 8 runs needed off the last ball. Joginder Sharma conceded only a single, which gave Chennai a 6 run victory over Mumbai.

For his 46-ball 81, Matthew Hayden was awarded Man of the Match.

#2 Hardik Pandya’s assault gives Mumbai victory at Chepauk - 2015

This was the 43rd game of the Pepsi Indian Premier League (2015), played at Chennai. Electing to bat first, Chennai Super Kings got off to a rollicking start scoring at more than 9 runs per over thanks to the dynamic duo of Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith. The pair added 44 runs before Brendon McCullum was caught at deep midwicket for a quick fire 23 of 11 deliveries. Suresh Raina and Dwayne Smith didn’t last long as both the batsmen were dismissed before 10 overs. At the halfway juncture, Chennai Super Kings were struggling at 67/3.

Faf du Plessis and M.S Dhoni resurrected the innings as the pair added 39 runs before Faf was caught at fine leg in the 16th over. At 104-4 Dhoni found able support in Pawan Negi who attacked the bowlers right from the word go. He hit 4 boundaries and one huge six in his 17-ball 36 which propelled the team score to 158/5 in 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians got off a great start with Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons taking the attack to the Chennai bowlers. By the end of mandatory power-play, the pair added 61 runs and brought the equation down to 98 runs required off 14 overs with all the wickets remaining. However, things turned around in the 11th over, when Ravichandran Ashwin was handed over the ball. He first dismissed Parthiv Patel caught at wide long-on and then dismissed Simmons, who was caught at deep mid-wicket making it two wickets in the over.

Kieron Pollard was the next to go after he was run-out by Dwayne Bravo. Rohit Sharma played slowly, while Ambati Rayudu was hitting some lusty blows at the other end. With 34 needing of 3 overs, Rohit Sharma was dismissed on the first ball of 18th over. With 30 to win off the last 2 overs, Hardik Pandya launched an assault. He smashed Pawan Negi for 4 sixes in the over to bring the target to 5 needing of the last over. Mumbai reached the target with Ambati Rayudu hitting the winning run on the second ball of the last over to complete a memorable victory for Mumbai Indians.

For his brutal hitting (21 of 8 deliveries) and 3 catches, Hardik Pandya was awarded Man of the Match.

#1 Dwayne Smith’s 6,4,6 wins it for Mumbai at Wankhede – 2012

This was the one game that no Mumbai Indian fan would ever want to forget. On a hot afternoon in Mumbai, the men in blue decided to field first. Faf du Plessis and Murali Vijay got the team to a good start scoring at 9 per over. The duo added 47 runs for the first wicket before Faf was run out by Harbhajan Singh.

Murali Vijay was looking in good touch before he was bowled by R.P Singh. At 57-2 Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo stitched together a partnership of 62 runs for the 3rd wicket. With 3 overs to go Chennai were looking for a score in excess of 185 but some brilliant death bowling by the likes of R.P Singh and Lasith Malinga, who picked up 3 wickets each made sure the score was below 180. Chennai ended up scoring 173/8 in the allocated 20 overs. Dwayne Bravo was the top scorer with 40, followed by Murali Vijay (41) and Suresh Raina (36).

In reply, Mumbai Indians lost opener James Franklin in the third over. However, Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma added a monumental 126 run for the second wicket. Sachin, in particular, was looking in sublime touch smashing boundaries at will. At the other end, Rohit Sharma chanced his arm and took on the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

With the game in complete control, M.S Dhoni handed over the ball to Ashwin. The off-spinner rightly delivered by picking up Sachin Tendulkar, who was caught at covers by Faf du Plessis for a well made 74 off 44 deliveries. Things turned around quickly as Dinesh Karthik was bowled off the bowling of Dwayne Bravo trying to flick the ball towards the leg side. With 27 needing 3 overs, Ravi Jadeja removed Ambati Rayudu (bowled) and a settled Rohit Sharma (bowled) in the same over.

With 25 needing of last 2 overs, Dwayne Bravo picked up 2 wickets dismissing Robin Peterson and Harbhajan Singh of the 3rd and 6th ball of the 19th over.

16 runs were required for Mumbai Indians in the last over with Dwayne Smith and Lasith Malinga in the crease and Ben Hilfenhaus to bowl.

On the first ball of the over, Dwayne Smith could get only a single of a yorker. Lasith Malinga was bowled on the second ball as Smith watched helplessly from the non-striker’s end. R.P Singh took a single off the 3rd ball and 14 runs were required of the last 3 balls. Dwayne Smith smashed a six of the 4th ball, which was low full toss bringing the equation to 8 off 2 balls.

The 5th ball was again a full toss and Smith clobber’s it straight down the ground with 4 needing off the last ball. The last ball was a pitched up half volley which gets clobbered again straight down the ground with no chance for the fielder at deep long off. Mumbai Indians thus went on to win a memorable nail-biting victory at home thanks to some power hitting by Dwayne Smith. The entire Mumbai Indians squad ran out to the field to congratulate Smith for his heroics and the crowd was jubilant. For his effort, Dwayne Smith was awarded Man of the Match.