By Suhas Nayse – SJFI Member
SHARJAH: The worst fear of Chennai Super Kings fans came true as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men made an inglorious exit from the Dream11 Indian Premier League on Friday.
The miseries for CSK continued at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Mumbai Indians handed them eighth defeat of the season with a convincing ten-wicket victory in the 41st match of the season.
CSK were required to win all their remaining four matches to stay in the race for a playoffs berth. But MI outclassed CSK in every department. Thus defending champions took their points tally to 14 to regain the numero uno position. For CSK the rest of the games have became inconsequential. They remained at the bottom of the table with six points.
Chasing a target of 115, MI openers Ishan Kishan and Quinton de Kock guided their side to victory in 12.2 overs. An unbeaten 116-run opening wicket stand avenged MI’s earlier defeat against CSK. The two teams kick-started the league in Abu Dhabi on September 19 when CSK beat MI by five wickets, courtesy Ambati Rayudu’s fifty.
Kishan slammed the second half-century of the season with an unbeaten 68 off 37 balls. The diminutive opener smashed six fours and five towering sixes. De Kock remained unbeaten on 46 (37 balls, 5×4, 2×6) to extend his excellent form with the willow. It was the highest opening partnership for MI in IPL 2020. The previous beat was 94 runs by Rohit Sharma and de Kock against KKR at Abu Dhabi.
Earlier put into bat by MI stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard, CSK batsmen put up a disappointing show. Despite Sam Curran’s fighting half-century, the three-time former champions managed to muster 114 for 9. The total was given some respectability by Curran, who waged a lone battle with 52 off 47 balls. The left-hander struck four boundaries and a couple of sixes.
At one stage, CSK were reeling at 43 for 7 and it looked they would not even cross the 100-run mark. Trent Boult was wrecker-in-chief. The New Zealander picked up three wickets in the first spell before coming back again to dismiss Curran. He returned with an impressive bowling figures of 4-1-18-4. Jasprit Bumrah (2-25) and Rahul Chahar (2-22) gave able support to Boult to restrict CSK.
On Saturday there will be another double-header. In the afternoon clash, Kolkata Knight Riders (10 points) will square off against Delhi Capitals (14 points) at Abu Dhabi, while Kings XI Punjab (8 points) will lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad (8 points) at Dubai.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 114 for 9 in 20 overs (Sam Curran 52, MS Dhoni 16, Imran Tahir 13 not out, Shardul Thakur 11; Trent Boult 4-18, Jasprit Bumrah 2-25, Rahul Chahar 2-22, Nathan Coulter-Nile 1-25) lost to Mumbai Indians 116 for no loss in 12.2 overs (Ishan Kishan 68 not out, Quinton de Kock 46 not out) by ten wickets. Man-of-the-match: Trent Boult (MI).
