When Mumbai Indians finished their innings against the Chennai Super Kings at 183 for 7 at the Wankhede Stadium, their coach, Ricky Ponting, let out a wide smile and rightly so. The team had been struggling in their earlier matches in the IPL with consecutive losses, and the large score was a much-needed boost for the legendary Australian.
The smile soon vanished when Chennai’s openers, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith crossed the 100-run mark without being separated. The duo tore into the Mumbai attack with impudence, ease and dexterity. To see Lasith Malinga go for 33 runs off just two overs just showed how ready the Chennai batsmen were when they stepped out to chase a big total in Mumbai.
Collapse and recovery
Chennai were always the fancied side, before the game began, and their spearhead Ashish Nehra reiterated the faith his skipper, M.S. Dhoni had in him when he sent Parthiv Patel and danger man Corey Anderson back with just six runs on the scoreboard. With Lendl Simmons going back soon and the promoted Harbhajan Singh dismissed with the score reading 57for 4, Mumbai had a tough task on hand.
In walked Kieron Pollard to join his captain Rohit Sharma and provided oodles of entertainment to the home crowd with boundaries and sixes galore. The duo stitched a 75-run partnership that brought hopes into the hearts of Mumbai’s fans and set the stage for the batsmen to follow.
The combination took Mumbai to (what was thought of as) an above-par score with a mix of Sharma’s elegant strokeplay and Pollard’s savage attack on the Chennai bowlers. The talented West Indian was particularly severe on Ravindra Jadeja whose bowling arm came down from 12 o’clock to 9 in a matter of a few balls that were dispatched with impunity by Pollard.
It took a superb spell in the crucial death overs by Dwayne Bravo to restrict the charge led by Pollard and bring sanity into the Chennai camp. Ambati Rayudu’s cameo of 29 runs off 16 balls, which helped his team go slightly beyond the par score, was good but not enough when one looks at the Chennai reply in hindsight.
Poor bowling
What eventually let Mumbai down was their bowling. The lack of bite in their attack (Malinga in particular) helped Smith, McCullum and Suresh Raina to keep the team well within striking distance of the big total they were chasing. A hapless Sharma tried everything with zero success, a point that he admitted at the post-match interview.
Mumbai have been hurt badly by the withdrawal of Josh Hazelwood and the unfortunate hamstring injury to Aaron Finch. As Sharma admitted, Mumbai are still looking at finalising the right team combination to start delivering results.
And now?
There will be a lot on coach Ponting’s plate right now as his team gears up to face Royal Challengers at Bangalore this coming Sunday. The form of Malinga, a match winner in his own right, and that of Corey Anderson, who had a brilliant outing in the World Cup, may probably be the key points of discussion for the teams think-tank when they meet next.
If one uses an analogy, the water levels are heading close to the danger mark for the Mumbai Indians as the tournament is nearing the middle stage. A look at Ponting’s illustrious career will show that he hated to be on the losing side and bounced back each time he and the team he led was down. One can well imagine the tenor of the next Mumbai Indians team meeting.
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The smile soon vanished when Chennai’s openers, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith crossed the 100-run mark without being separated. The duo tore into the Mumbai attack with impudence, ease and dexterity. To see Lasith Malinga go for 33 runs off just two overs just showed how ready the Chennai batsmen were when they stepped out to chase a big total in Mumbai.
Collapse and recovery
Chennai were always the fancied side, before the game began, and their spearhead Ashish Nehra reiterated the faith his skipper, M.S. Dhoni had in him when he sent Parthiv Patel and danger man Corey Anderson back with just six runs on the scoreboard. With Lendl Simmons going back soon and the promoted Harbhajan Singh dismissed with the score reading 57for 4, Mumbai had a tough task on hand.
In walked Kieron Pollard to join his captain Rohit Sharma and provided oodles of entertainment to the home crowd with boundaries and sixes galore. The duo stitched a 75-run partnership that brought hopes into the hearts of Mumbai’s fans and set the stage for the batsmen to follow.
The combination took Mumbai to (what was thought of as) an above-par score with a mix of Sharma’s elegant strokeplay and Pollard’s savage attack on the Chennai bowlers. The talented West Indian was particularly severe on Ravindra Jadeja whose bowling arm came down from 12 o’clock to 9 in a matter of a few balls that were dispatched with impunity by Pollard.
It took a superb spell in the crucial death overs by Dwayne Bravo to restrict the charge led by Pollard and bring sanity into the Chennai camp. Ambati Rayudu’s cameo of 29 runs off 16 balls, which helped his team go slightly beyond the par score, was good but not enough when one looks at the Chennai reply in hindsight.
Poor bowling
What eventually let Mumbai down was their bowling. The lack of bite in their attack (Malinga in particular) helped Smith, McCullum and Suresh Raina to keep the team well within striking distance of the big total they were chasing. A hapless Sharma tried everything with zero success, a point that he admitted at the post-match interview.
Mumbai have been hurt badly by the withdrawal of Josh Hazelwood and the unfortunate hamstring injury to Aaron Finch. As Sharma admitted, Mumbai are still looking at finalising the right team combination to start delivering results.
And now?
There will be a lot on coach Ponting’s plate right now as his team gears up to face Royal Challengers at Bangalore this coming Sunday. The form of Malinga, a match winner in his own right, and that of Corey Anderson, who had a brilliant outing in the World Cup, may probably be the key points of discussion for the teams think-tank when they meet next.
If one uses an analogy, the water levels are heading close to the danger mark for the Mumbai Indians as the tournament is nearing the middle stage. A look at Ponting’s illustrious career will show that he hated to be on the losing side and bounced back each time he and the team he led was down. One can well imagine the tenor of the next Mumbai Indians team meeting.