IPL 2018, MI vs CSK: Hits and Misses

The much-awaited 11th season of the IPL got underway with rivals Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings kicking things off. Mahendra Singh Dhoni returned as captain and began positively as he won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Mumbai got off to a sedate start, losing a couple of wickets in the powerplay as the CSK new-ball bowlers found nice movement, both off the air and off the pitch. However, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan batted well to bring MI back on track.

After both of them were dismissed, Krunal Pandya, who was promoted ahead of Kieron Pollard, provided a big finish as he hit a brilliant 22-ball 41. The elder Pandya’s innings helped MI to post 165.

Chasing more than 8 runs per over, Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu gave CSK a solid start before the former was dismissed by Hardik Pandya.

CSK lost wickets at regular intervals and slumped to 118/8 before a stunning innings from Dwayne Bravo helped CSK get close. An injured Kedar Jadhav then finished the chase with a six and a four to help the comeback team get off to a thrilling start.

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#5 Miss: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma struggled during his 18-ball innings

Rohit Sharma is the most successful IPL captain and is the third highest run-getter in IPL history. However, he’s not had the best of starts to the year 2018. He has played 18 innings across the three formats for India and had only three 50+ scores. His patchy form continued as he had a scratchy start to this year’s IPL.

He has batted in the middle order in the last few seasons for Mumbai Indians, but he opened the batting along with Evin Lewis. However, Rohit Sharma was beaten off the first three balls of the innings.

After being deceived by a good first ball, Rohit then went after almost every delivery. He tried a lot of shots at the start of the innings which was very unlike Rohit.

India’s limited-overs vice-captain did hit the first four and the first six of this IPL, but he struggled throughout his innings. His stay ended at the crease when he tried to hoick Watson over mid-wicket and ended up top-edging it to point where Ambati Rayudu took a good catch.

Rohit Sharma scored an 18-ball 15 and never looked at ease when he was at the crease.

#4 Miss: Mark Wood

Mark Wood was the most expensive bowler of the game

The best part in the last couple of years in the IPL has been the way England players have embraced the league and have shown their interest. This year we will see a lot more England players than before in the IPL.

Mark Wood has established himself as a good limited-overs bowler as he could hit the deck hard and is a very good death bowler. However, playing his first ever IPL made his debut in this game and found the harsh reality of the IPL.

Coming into bowl in the 10th over of the innings, he started well as he gave away just 2 runs in his first over. But in his next 3 overs, he was taken for 47 runs as Krunal Pandya hit him all over the park in the death overs. Wood had a forgettable debut as he finished with figures of 0/49 in his fours overs.

#3 Hit: Mayank Markande

Mayank Markande had a dream debut

The IPL is all about unearthing new talent. It always throws up some very unfamiliar and unknown names who get a chance and perform at the big stage.

Just ahead of the tournament opener, a Bathinda-born leg-spinner, Mayank Markande had revealed how he had received 37 missed calls and 300 messages (within a few hours) when he got picked for the Mumbai Indians (he had told the official Mumbai Indians website).

In a surprising move, MI went ahead and picked the 20-year-old Punjab leggie ahead of Rahul Chahar. But Markande justified his selection. In his first over, he started well with a couple of dot balls before he dismissed Ambati Rayudu with a googly. In the next over, he got a huge wicket.

The 20-year-old leggie foxed CSK skipper MS Dhoni with a well-disguised wrong’un. And then he capped of the 4-over spell with a wicket of his last ball as he dismissed Deepak Chahar with another wrong’un. He ended with 3/23 on debut.

#2 Hit: Pandya brothers

Both the brothers had a great game

Both Hardik and Krunal Pandya have been an integral part of the Mumbai Indians setup over the last couple of years. After Hardik was retained before the auction, it was almost certain that his elder brother Krunal will be bought back by MI through RTM.

And the two brothers started off things in style. Coming into bat at No. 5 and No. 6, Hardik and Krunal needed to build on the platform provided by Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.

Krunal, as soon as he walked out to bat, changed the tempo of the innings. He was on the attack and was looking to score at least one boundary every over. Hardik, on the other hand, played second fiddle to his elder brother and gave him as much strike as possible.

The duo shared a 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket and helped MI reach a very competitive score of 165. Krunal scored 41 in just 22 balls, while Hardik made 22 in 20 deliveries.

Hardik seemed to have suffered an ankle injury but he came back to bowl and struck immediately getting rid of Shane Watson. In his next over, he then picked up the wicket of Suresh Raina to put CSK in a spot of bother.

He finished with figures of 3/24 in 4 overs. Krunal didn’t bowl but was good in the field. The Pandya brothers were brilliant together in this game but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to push MI over the finish line.

#1 Hit: Dwayne Bravo

Bravo was phenomenal with the bat

Dwayne Bravo is one of the biggest T20 superstars of the world. Having played a staggering 375 T20 games, Bravo is the only player in the history of T20 cricket to take 400 wickets in the shortest format.

Coming back at CSK, Bravo was always going to be Dhoni’s go-to bowler, especially at the death. He came into bowl in the 12th over of the game and gave away 14 runs in his first over. However, Bravo showed why he is rated as one of the best T20 death bowlers. In his last three overs, he just gave 11 runs and restricted a big MI flourish.

In the last few years, Bravo’s batting has dipped a bit and it was under scrutiny. Coming into bat at No. 7, Bravo began on a positive note as he hit MI’s best bowler Mayank Markande for a six down to long-on. That was the start of a one-man show.

The West Indian then saw wickets fall around him and CSK were reduced to 118/8. CSK still needed 47 in 3 overs and the game looked dead and buried. However, Bravo completely changed the completion of the game.

In the 18th over, he hit Mitchell McClenaghan for 2 sixes and 1 four and fetched 20 runs to give momentum to the innings. Bravo then hit one of the best death bowlers Jasprit Bumrah for 3 sixes to bring the game back to life.

With 7 runs required off 7 balls, the 34-year-old T20 specialist was dismissed. He struck a fine 30-ball 68 where he hit 7 sixes. Bravo was the Man of the Match for his all-round performance.