IPL 2018, CSK vs MI: Three things you might have missed

Today’s match was a clash of the heavyweights as the three-time champions Mumbai Indians took on the M.S Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings at Pune. Rohit Sharma won the toss and put Chennai into bat.

Chennai got off to a strong start as Ambati Rayadu continued in his rich vein of form but a wobble in the middle overs ensured that the match did not go out of Mumbai’s hands as Chennai posted a par score of 169 runs.

In reply, Mumbai got off to a steady start and some intelligent batting from the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis and Rohit Sharma got the defending champions home with 2 balls to spare. Let us have a look at the 3 unnoticed things from the match.

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#1 Chennai’s struggle in the middle overs

Batting first, Chennai got off to a great start courtesy some excellent hitting from the in-form Ambati Rayadu and Suresh Raina. At the end of 9 overs, Chennai were at a healthy score of 77 for the loss of just one wicket and looked set to post a score in excess of 180. However, some tight overs from Mumbai’s bowlers ensured that Chennai lost all the momentum.

Chennai scored a paltry 29 runs in the 5 overs between the 10th over and 14th over. Krunal Pandya was brilliant with the ball as he conceded just 8 runs from his 2 overs and got the prized scalp of Rayadu. This stranglehold in the middle overs turned out to be the turning point of the match as Chennai could only post a par score of 169 of their allotted overs.

#2 Markande’s off day

Mayank Markande was the star of the show when these two teams met at the inaugural match of this year’s IPL. He got the big wickets of Ambati Rayadu and M.S Dhoni in that game.

However, the 20-year-old leggie struggled to have any impact in today’s game. Both Raina and Dhoni were quick to use their feet against Markande and smashed him for fours and sixes. Mayank was a bit expensive today as he went for 30 runs of 3 his overs and could not even complete his full quota of 4 overs.

#3 Ravindra Jadeja under-bowled, again

Ravindra Jadeja is a bit unsure about his role in the Chennai team. He bats way too down for a specialist batsman and is not trusted with the ball by his captain. In fact, he has failed to complete his full quota of overs in any of the games played this season.

Today as well, Dhoni did not turn to Jadeja even when his premier bowler Deepak Chahar was out injured and could not complete his 4 overs. It was a bit baffling to see as his other prime spinner Harbhajan Singh had a good day with the ball, conceding just 20 runs. But Dhoni was just too worried about Lewis hitting Jaddu out of the park and did not bring him into the attack.