Rohit Sharma misread the conditions at the Arun Jaitley Stadium by a long margin. If he had read how perfect the batting conditions would be, he would not have put CSK into bat after winning the toss.
Boy, did CSK make the most out of batting first on a nice, fast and lively pitch with short boundaries? CSK is at the top of the VIVO IPL 2021 points table and for good reason. They have been able to fund their perfect team balance both in terms of the ball as well as in terms of the batting line-up.
Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, And Ambati Rayudu Blast CSK Past The 200 Mark!
Rituraj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis have been laying the perfect foundation for CSK in the last few matches. However, Gaikwad had an off day in the office getting out after scoring just 4 runs off 4 balls in the second over of the match. Trent Boult picking up his first of the match.
Faf du Plessis has been maturing like fine wine through the tournament. The South African is one of Dhoni’s most trusted deputies and played his part once again. The innings were not slow by any stretch of the imagination. Du Plessis smashing 4 sixes and 2 fours in his innings of 50 off just 28 balls.
Du Plessis; partnership with Moeen Ali is what took the match away from MI in the first ten overs. Moeen Ali has been a revelation unlike any for CSK. The Englishman has been piling on the runs in the last few matches, and that too at an amazing strike rate. Ali smashed 5 sixes and 5 fours in his brilliant innings off 58 off just 36 balls.
Pollard was great with the ball for MI picking up both du Plessis and Raina who failed to score more than 2 runs off 4 balls. The stage was set for Ambati Rayudu to show why MSD values his presence so much in the team. Rayudu looked in destructive form, smashing everyone from Boult to Bumrah to all corners of the world.
Rayudu played just 27 balls and scored 72 runs at a strike rate of 266. He singlehandedly bludgeoned the confidence of the MI bowling line-up and took CSK to 218 for 4 off 20 overs. Jadeja could have accelerated but he couldn’t. he played 22 balls (nearly 4 overs) and scored just 22 runs with 2 fours.
Mumbai Indians Start Strong But Falter In The Middle Overs In Their 218-Run Chase
Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock started MI’s chase well. While Sharma was terribly out of form, some luck ensured that he and de Kock was able to maintain a 10 run rate for the first 7 overs of the match. Both de Kock and Sharma were getting the boundaries away and laying the perfect foundation for the likes of Pollard and Pandya.
Trust MSD to come up with something out of the hat in order to get CSK back in the game. The introduction of Shardul Thakur ensured that Rohit Sharma went back to the pavilion after scoring 35 runs. Yadav, who has not got going in the last few matches for MI went soon after. Sir Jadeja’s introduction into the bowling saw Yadav nicking one to MSD.
De Kock went in the next over thanks to a Moeen Ali caught and bowled dismissal. MSD using his spinners to get back into the game and slowing down the MI chase in the middle-overs.
With 8 overs remaining MI needed 125 runs if they were to chase down CSK’s 218 targets. However, if there was a batsman that could do it, it was Kieron Pollard. The West Indian came to the party and took Jadeja for 20 runs in one over thanks to 3 sixes. The next over saw Ngidi going for 2 more sixes. Pollard had taken 36 off the last two overs and wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
WHAT. A. WIN for the @mipaltan 🔥🔥
Some serious hitting from @KieronPollard55 ( 87* off 34) as #MumbaiIndians win by 4 wickets.
Scorecard – https://t.co/NQjEDM2zGX #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/UAb6SYCMQz
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2021
Finally, the huge target started appearing smaller and smaller. Shardul Thakur came into the attack and was smashed for a mammoth 103 meter six down the ground. This was followed up with another four through the covers. Pollard bringing up his fifty off just 17 balls with 6 sixes and 3 fours. Strike rate you ask? Over 300! This was the fastest fifty of the VIVO IPL 2021.
In the last 5 overs, MI needed 66 runs. Krunal Pandya got into the action smashing 16 runs off a Ngidi over. MI well within the reach of pulling off one of the best chases in the history of the IPL with just needing 50 runs off the last 4 overs.
Sam Curran came and bowled a phenomenal over conceding just 2 runs and picking up Krunal Pandya off the most brilliant ball of the tournament. MI needing 48 runs in the last 3 overs.
Du Plessis dropped Pollard off Thakur and may be dropped the game for CSK. Thakur went for a lot of runs in the 18th over. He would not want to remember this game. Thakur conceding 56 runs off his 4 over spell. Curran was taken to the cleaners by Hardik Pandya who took him for 2 successive sixes. Curran ultimately got the better off him after Pandya scored a quickfire 16 runs off just 7 balls.
Curran sprung another surprise by getting Neesham out of the very first ball. MIU now needed 16 runs off the last over with Pollard taking strike. Curran finishing with 3 wickets in his 4 overs.
Pollard smashed the 2nd and 3rd ball of Ngidi’s over for consecutive fours leaving MI to just get 8 runs off the final 3 balls. The fifth ball went for a massive six. MI now needed 2 runs from the last ball. Pollard took 2 runs off the final over to bring up a legendary and epic victory for MI.
The batting performance of the tournament. Pollard scoring 87 not out with 8 sixes and 6 fours. What a performance, take a bow, Big Man!
