IPL 2018, CSK vs MI: 5 talking points

Mumbai Indians registered their second win of the tournament by defeating Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets at Chennai. Batting first, CSK added 169 on the board thanks to Suresh Raina's 47-ball 75 and Ambati Rayudu's 46.

In reply, MI looked stable from the beginning with openers Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis adding 69. Skipper Rohit Sharma came in at No.3 and began batting aggressively. He eventually reached his fifty and thanks to some assistance from Hardik Pandya towards the end of the innings, MI won the match with two balls to spare.

Despite the defeat, Chennai Super Kings managed to stay at the top of the table while Mumbai Indians moved to the 6th position with the win.

Here are five talking points of the game.

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#5 Harbhajan Singh's tidy spell

In CSK's previous encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Harbhajan Singh conceded 24 runs from just two overs. Tonight, his spell was completely contradictory of that performance.

Bhajji came in to bowl after Deepak Chahar injured himself while the first ball of his third over. Except for a boundary from Suryakumar Yadav, Bhajji's five balls were pretty good and he conceded 6 runs from that over.

In his second over, Bhajji gave away just two runs. In his third over, the 37-year old conceded 6 runs and took the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. In his final over, the Turbanator gave away another 6 runs to end his spell at 1/20 from 3.5 overs.

#4 Suresh Raina's brilliant knock

Raina was wonderful with the bat tonight

Except a 54 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Suresh Raina's performances in the IPL this year were not so good. However, Raina was sensational with the bat today.

CSK lost Shane Watson early and they desperately needed someone to support Rayudu. Raina batted beautifully and played some fabulous shots. He stitched a partnership of 71 with Rayudu and even after his dismissal, continued to bat brilliantly.

Raina batted till the end and went on to score a knock of 75 from 47 deliveries. Provided Suresh Raina continues to play such knocks, then CSK are bound to post much higher totals.

#3 The slow but strong foundation set by the MI openers

Yadav and Lewis added 69 for the first wicket

Having failed miserably in their batting against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians needed a strong start to their batting to chase down 170. Their openers Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis did exactly that.

Yadav was the relative aggressor out of the two as Evin Lewis was not showing much aggressive intent. Both players faced the CSK bowlers and adopted a sensible and cautious to batting.

The pair added 69 for the first wicket from 59 deliveries. The partnership came to an end when Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for a 34-ball 44. This partnership was the base on which MI's successful run chase was architected.

#2 A disappointing 19th over by Shardul Thakur

Thakur's bizarre 19th

over turned

the match in

favor

of the Mumbai Indians

At the end of the 18th over, Mumbai Indians needed 22 from 12 deliveries. Skipper MS Dhoni had two pacers to choose from to bowl the 19th over, both of whom had conceded 21 runs from their 3 overs. They were Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur.

Both bowlers conceded few runs in their respective last overs. However, MSD opted for Shardul Thakur to bowl the 19th over.

Thakur began well with a yorker which Hardik Pandya sent towards deep cover for a single. However, Thakur's next three deliveries saw Rohit Sharma hitting as many boundaries. The equation was now 9 from 8.

The 26-year old bowled a dot ball before being hit for a fourth boundary by Rohit Sharma who reached his fifty. Thakur's over yielded 17 runs and MI now needed just 5 from the final over.

This was Shardul Thakur's third consecutive expensive spell of the tournament, having conceded 45 and 46 runs against SRH and RCB respectively. Provided Thakur continues to bowl this way, his place in the playing XI might be in jeopardy.

#1 Rohit Sharma's match-winning captain's knock

The MI skipper played a sensational knock

Following his 94 against RCB, Rohit Sharma's performances with the bat suffered a dip. He hardly made any contribution in MI's last two matches against Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Mumbai Indians began their run chase well in terms of runs on the board but their run rate wasn't very high. By the time Rohit Sharma came in to bat, their required run-rate was above 10.

The MI skipper began slowly but started showing aggressive intent after his first 7 deliveries. His aggression elevated during the death overs and the 30-year old smashed four boundaries in the penultimate which put his team in the driver's seat.

Rohit Sharma eventually ended with 56 from 33 balls as Mumbai Indians registered only their second win of the season. He was rightfully adjudged the Man of the Match. MI will be hoping that their skipper produces many such innings in their remaining matches.